IATB: The Rise
by ffdrake
Summary: Sequel to In All Things Balance. Former Dark Lady Nox has laid the foundations for a new order of Force users on Earth. But with Order 66 given and the Jedi scatter her plans must be accelerated making her bring her adoptive son, Harry Potter, and her apprentices Daphne and Susan to their trials. While on Earth Voldemort begins his plans for resurrection. Nox/Tonks, Harry/Ahsoka
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome back everyone! We're on to the second installment of** **In All Things Balance** **. So if you haven't read that story yet I highly advise that you do otherwise you will more than likely be more than just a bit lost. Just a forewarning…this arc is going to be quite a bit darker than the previous. We're going to be looking at truly earning that 'M' rating this time around. Still not sure if I'm going to be including any 'lemons' in this arc…but it is a possibility if demand is high enough. But in truth…I've never written one so…yeah we'll see.**

 **Just to let you all know, for the SW verse I'm going to be taking things from both the Cannon (movies and TV shows) and Legends (games and books) for this SW verse.**

 **Also a huge thank you to both Dunstan Xenon and HowInMadHowie who are helping me out by beta reading this story for me and by also allowing me to bounce ideas around with them.**

 **Also here is a guide for dialogue:**

"Normal Speech"

 _'Inner thoughts'_

 _"Foreign Language"_

 _ **"Intercom / ghost (Force ghost) talk"**_

 **Hope that you all enjoy the first chapter! And please leave a review if you feel so inclined!**

 **Chapter 1**

Keeping her eyes firmly fixated on the large asteroid colony before her, Ziri Nox; former Dark Lady of the Sith, former member of the Dark Council, founder of the Guardians and the adoptive mother of Harry Potter, piloted her ship, the Ashara, through the mass of ships entering and leaving the smugglers' port. "Well what do you know, the nav computer was right." Nox's lover and co-pilot Nymphadora Tonks said as she watched the dozens of ships fly by. "There really is a colony out here…how did they build something like this on a rock? How do they breathe?"

The colony, or rather the smugglers' den, was one of the few places that were locked in the ship's nav computer. No doubt the smugglers that she collected the Ashara from had intended to make this place their next stop after they managed to escape Korriban. And while this was not her first choice for a destination, especially with a ship load of primitives as they were, this place would allow them to barter several relics from Earth, all fake of course, with little to no questions asked.

Her second reason for choosing this place, besides the fact that it was close to Wild Space, was the simple fact that it was apparently one of the largest hubs for bounty hunters in this sector of the Outer Rim. And it was probably the last place anyone would think to look for Force sensitives in a galaxy that was currently trying to hunt them down.

"The colony itself is encased in a dome." Nox explained as she guided the ship towards an empty docking harness. "The inside of which has been terraformed just enough so it has a somewhat self-sustaining ecosystem."

The ship rocked back and forth almost violently as it latched onto the harness. Tonks of course immediately latched onto her seat so hard her knuckles turned white. "Whoa…you'd think for how advance everything is out here someone would come up with a better docking system."

"Nothing is ever perfect." Nox shrugged powering down the engines. "Let's see how the kids handled the docking."

In the main galley of the ship the only four that were still on their feet were Harry, Daphne, Aela and Ginny. Remus, Luna, Hermione, Susan had all managed to find a seat before they docked. But the rest; Astoria, Tracey, Hannah and Ron, were all still trying to regain their footing.

"I take it we've arrived mother." Harry stated with a slight smirk on his face as she came into view.

"What was your first clue son?" She teased back, enjoying the slight reddening that came over his face while she did so. "Now listen carefully. All of you. I've been to several smuggler dens like this one in my time. And trust me, even the best among them make Knockturn Alley seem like a walk in the park. So on this first trip out it will just be myself, Tonks and Aela."

Of course that started off a wave of protest, which she promptly silenced with a wandless silencing spell. 'Force…if only I knew how to do that back when I was still on the Dark Council. Would've made those meetings far more productive.'

"This is not up for debate." Nox said harshly, meeting each of her students' eyes. "This place is dangerous. Not to mention everyone with a blaster is now hunting for anyone of age that shows even an inkling of Force aptitude. And while I have no doubt that all of you would be able to handle yourselves for the most part. I really do not feel like fighting off every bounty hunter on this rock in order to escape. Aela, Tonks and I will check out the immediate vicinity and then allow you to leave the ship later under close supervision. If you disobey me, then you will not only be staying on board; your punishment will be most unpleasant. Are we clear?"

"Yes Master." All of her students, including Harry, answered.

"Good," Nox nodded before turning towards Remus and Aela. "Aela go get the smaller crate of jewels and relics out of the cargo hold. We'll put out some feelers today and go after bigger targets tomorrow. And get the blasters too. If we're going to be playing the part of bounty hunters than we at least need to look the part."

Within ten minutes the three of them were dressed as in common street clothes with blasters on each of their hips and with their wand holsters firmly secured on the underside of their forearms and out of sight. Stepping out of the airlock of the docking cradle and into the colony proper, they were greeted immediately by the sight of a busy commerce street. Hundreds of individuals of nearly a dozen different species were darting back and forth through the busy street while vendors lined either side peddling everything from ship parts, to blasters, to torpedoes and even slaves.

The last of which made Nox's hands tighten almost painfully. Her time as a slave had left a deep and permanent scar on her soul. While the trio were still getting their bearings, a male twi'lek walked up to the slave girls and began roughly feeling their assets. Nox actually had to reach out and stop both Aela and Tonks from interfering as the twi'lek turned and started negotiating with the slave dealer.

"No." Nox growled as the new slave owner picked up a chain and attached it to the collar of a human woman. "One day they will all pay. But we have neither the time nor manpower to do anything now. But remember what you see here…and use it in the future."

Unbeknownst to the three of them, but as they stood there they were noticed by a rodian who gave a quick nod to his two human bodyguards before advancing on the trio. _"Good day travelers!"_ The rodian said in Huttese as he approached the trio _. "My name is Gian and I welcome you to Nemir's Den. Owned and operated by none other than Nemir the Hutt himself!"_

Turning towards the rodian, Nox made a subtle motion with her hand for Tonks and Aela to flank her. "And your point?"

The rodian began scratching under his chin as his two human bodyguards came up on either side of him. " _Nemir requires a toll to be paid on all docked ships. One hundred credits a day. And you must register what your cargo is and it's worth."_

Nox just barely kept herself from rolling her eyes. "Aela. Tonks. Set our goods down and give this rodian and his guards what they're due."

Smiling, Gian turned towards Aela expecting payment and instead received the werewolf's fist right under his jaw. While the rodian was still in the air, Aela reversed her arm and smashed her elbow into one of the guard's chest before grabbing him by the throat with her left hand and lifting him clear off the ground. The second guard made to intervene, but was stopped dead when the business end of a blaster was pressed against his temple courtesy of Tonks.

Taking a step towards the downed rodian, Nox pressed down on the man's sensitive parts with the ball of her foot while the passerby's in the street watched on without making any move to interfere. "Now that wasn't very smart rodian." She drawled while drawing her own blaster. "I could've believed the whole part about a toll. But wanting to know the purpose of my visit and what I'm carrying? That's something that only the core worlds would require. Not this outpost. Quite simply…you got greedy rodian. And it's going to cost you."

Raising her blaster, she leveled it first at the rodian's head before moving over to each humans. "Eeny. Meeny. Miny. Moe." On the last word she brought the blaster back down and put a hole through the center of the rodian's head. "Now you two. Your payday is dead. So before you act take a moment to ask yourself a single question. Is this really worth it?"

The two humans glanced at one another. The one who only had Tonks' blaster pointed at his head took off immediately. And the other took off after him the moment Aela set him back down on the ground. "Didn't think so." Nox smirked as she holstered her blaster.

The moment she stepped away from the dead rodian the residents were on him. His pockets were turned inside out as they looked for any spare credits. His over coat was roughly stripped from his body, causing a short scuffle to break out between a twi'lek and a human about who grabbed it first. And his boots were taken as well.

"Was that really necessary?" Tonks asked as she watched the residents descend on the corpse like a flock of vultures. "We could've just turned him into the authorities."

"You really haven't been to many places like this have you, little Miss Auror?" Aela chuckled. "For starters, if there were any law enforcement personnel here they would probably have a life expectancy of about ten seconds. Second, I'm sure extortion is the least of that creature's crimes. And thirdly, you don't want to appear weak in a place like this. And as you can see, no one is even the least bit bothered by a sudden death in the middle of a crowded street."

"Alright, you made your point." Tonks grumbled. "Just…if you're going to kill someone at least give me a moment's warning alright Nox?"

"Fine." Nox smirked as she leaned close to Tonks while sending a small jolt straight into her hip. "I'll make it up to you later lover." And then she pulled away leaving Tonks mildly gasping in the middle of the street.

"Damn it Nox." Tonks half groaned and half gasped. "You…you're just evil you know that! You can't just do that and walk away!"

Smiling to herself, Nox set a brisk pace through the crowded streets leaving Aela and Tonks struggling to keep up. As they walked Nox kept a trained eye on the vendors that were peddling their wares. After walking for nearly thirty minutes she came to a stop before a male twi'lek who had a few pieces of jewelry out on his stand. " _Ah, I see the lady has a trained eye for quality."_ The twi'lek said in Huttese as he stepped forward. _"How can Rumth be of service?"_

Stepping up to the table, Nox smiled as she made a quick pass over the man's mind. He was desperate. Good. That would work. "I'm looking to sell some recently acquired wares." Nox answered as she looked at the pieces on the table. All of which were tarnished in some manner, and in the most cases complete forgeries. "And I believe that you are the man to talk too."

The twi'lek bit his lip as waves of disappointment rolled off of him. But the chance for new wares was just too good for him to pass on. " _Perhaps I can be of service."_

Stepping forward, Aela opened the small crate she was carrying under her arm and pulled out a thick golden chain that was attached to an emerald half the size of her fist. "I'm sure that we can come to some sort of an agreement," Nox smiled as the twi'lek's eyes grew large with greed.

Peering over the lid of the small crate, the twi'lek nearly drooled at the sight of all the several gold and gem encrusted pieces of jewelry that were inside. Of course all of the pieces within were fakes. Just transfigured stones that would revert back to their original state in a couple of days. But he didn't need to know that. " _Yes…quite the collection. Rumth wonders if you could say once more where you acquired such fine pieces."_

"I never said where I acquired them in the first place." Nox answered back. "But you don't have to worry about anything. The previous owners won't be coming and looking for them."

Nodding, Rumth continued to make a show at looking over the pieces. " _They are fine pieces. But Rumth might have trouble moving them. I'll give you one thousand for all of them."_

Nox glared at the twi'lek before turning to Aela. "Put them away Aela. That price is an insult."

 _"Wait! Rumth can negotiate."_

"I don't know what there is to negotiate." Nox replied flatly. "That one piece can be sold for easily seven thousand. And the rest of them could go for a combined ten thousand. So unless you are willing to offer me at least thirteen thousand we have nothing further to discuss."

Rumth stared at the jewelry almost desperately, his thoughts so loud that Nox didn't even need to try in order to read them. He needed this jewelry in order to pay off a debt to Nemir the Hutt. And he needed it by tomorrow otherwise he would end up as the 'evening entertainment'.

Taking the gold and emerald necklace form Aela, Nox began idly playing with the links in the chain. "You see Rumth, my friends and I have a two crates three times the size of this small case full of pieces just like these. For some reason Rumth…I like you. And since I like you so much I'm willing to make a deal with you. You give me five thousand and I let you take the case minus this piece here. You put us in touch with a buyer that would be willing and able to pay full price for all of these pieces and I'll give you this piece to sell at your leisure."

Nox could feel the relief pouring off of the man. Even losing all of his current creds, the amount he could gain back from selling the case plus the amount he would get from the necklace would be more than enough to pay off his debt to Nemir. " _Five thousand is all I have…will you take four?"_

"Five thousand Rumth." Nox shot back, wrapping the chain around her fist. "Otherwise we walk. You have ten seconds to make up your mind. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Fi-"

 _"Wait! Rumth knows of a buyer! Rumth accepts your deal."_

"Wonderful." Nox smiled, tucking the necklace into the waist band of her belt and out of sight. "We'll be back in one cycle and you can take us to your buyer."

Nodding, the twi'lek ducked back into his shop for a few minutes. When he came back out he was holding small durasteel case roughly the size of a briefcase. " _Five thousand credits, as promised."_ He said reluctantly handing the case over.

Tonks immediately grabbed the case and opened. Inside the top row were indeed Republic, or rather Imperial credit chips. Removing the first layer, Tonks dug down in the case looking for any gaps or forgeries. After a quick count Tonks nodded to Nox. "It's all there."

"Good." Nox then nodded to Aela who pushed the case full of fake jewelry over to the twi'lek. "We'll be back within one cycle and you can take us to your buyer."

Rumth nodded while quickly grabbing hold of the case of jewelry and holding onto it as if it was his only lifeline. Which, from what she managed to pick up from his mind, wasn't too far from the truth. " _Wait! What type of payment do you request from Rumth's buyer?"_

"Credits. Blasters. Ammo. Missiles. Shield generators or fuel." Nox answered without missing a beat.

The twi'lek bowed low and immediately began closing up his shop, no doubt so he could get to Nemir and barter for his life.

With their business concluded, Nox led her two companions back through the marketplace and back onto their ship. As they walked Nox saw that most of the peddlers were working fast in order to try and close up their shops. 'More than likely the selling time is over this cycle.' The moment the stepped out of the airlock they were immediately set upon by her apprentices. All of whom immediately began talking over one another in their attempts to ask her questions about the colony.

"Do I have to silence you all again?" Nox threatened, which of course immediately silenced any and all questions. "Good. Now the market place is closing down for this cycle. When the next cycle starts I will allow Remus and Aela to take you all out in pairs to explore the general vicinity. Do nothing to draw attention to yourselves while you are out there. No magic. No Force abilities. No lightsabers. Understand?"

"Yes Master."

"Good." Nox nodded before turning to Aela. "I want you to give each of them a hundred credits so that they can buy something from one of the peddlers. Some interaction will be good for them. Harry, I have a different task for you."

Taking a step forward, her son stood up slightly straighter. "What is it mother?"

"Tomorrow when you head out I want you to take Ginny and Aela with you. Aela, I want you to take the two of them to that droid vendor that was two shops down from our jewelry peddler. Once you're there I want you to buy an astromech droid."

Harry brow furrowed in confusion before his eyes widened. "You mean one of those droids that work on ships?"

"Among other things." Nox nodded.

Raising her hand, Hermione tentatively asked, "What is an…astromech droid Master Nox?"

"They're exactly that," Nox answered with a shrug. "They're droids that are completely sentient that work on ships. They're also commonly used in conjunction with fighter pilots as they can perform mid-combat repairs to fighters as well as offer tactical data and strategic options to the pilots."

Hermione was nearly drooling after the word 'sentient'. "Yes Hermione you can examine the droid. As long as you don't drool all over it." Harry chuckled, making the others laugh at the witch's awestruck expression.

"Oh, bugger off." Hermione cursed looking completely embarrassed.

Almost immediately five voices all chimed in, "Language Hermione." Which of course only made the witch's face turn even redder.

Even Nox felt some small measure of amusement at watching the back and forth between the children. "Alright, enough of that. If you all keep it up our resident genius might just pass out from heat stroke." Nox wasn't sure if it was her 'genius' comment or her teasing, but Hermione's face only turned redder. "Now all of you get some sleep. We'll be leaving this rock and heading for Odessen before the end of the next cycle and we have a lot of work to do."

* * *

Stepping out of the airlock with Aela, Harry and Ginny did their best not to gape at the dozens of different species that were scattered amongst the crowded street before them while Aela gently prodded them from behind. "Don't gawk you two." Aela said lowly. "Act like you belong here. You don't want to stand out. Ron already almost did that earlier when a pair twi'lek and nautolan dancers passed us by. I swear the boy just about blew it right then and there. Hermione was not pleased with him. In fact, I'm pretty sure she was mildly disgusted with his lack of self-control." Aela snickered.

Harry wasn't quite sure what Aela had meant by that, by judging by her tone and by the look on Ron's face when he and Hermione had returned to the ship he had a pretty good idea. Moving slightly closer to Ginny, Harry allowed Aela to guide the two of them through the crowded streets.

"This place puts Diagon Alley to shame." Ginny said lowly as she looked around. "I can't even guess what half of this stuff is supposed to do …Merlin my father would go crazy in this place."

Harry was finding it increasingly difficult to keep his eyes straight ahead as they move further and further into the crowd. Everything was just so interesting! So foreign. And then it happened. And Harry suddenly understood why Ron had had such a difficult time.

"Hello there handsome, perhaps we can treat you right." A sultry voice beckoned to him.

Harry was just barely able to keep his face straight as two green skinned women, one a twi'lek and the other had to be a nautolan, came up on either side of him and took hold of each of his arms. Harry felt his face heat up as he noticed that both women were clothed in skin tight, thin, see-through mesh body suits with only slim thicker pieces of cloth over their more private parts.

"Ahem, no thank you." Harry managed to stutter out while politely but forcefully pulling his arms out of their grips. "I – uh – appreciate the offer but I don't have the – um – time to uh…well I don't have enough time to uh – correctly appreciate two such visions of beauty like yourselves. Maybe another time."

The two women only seemed mildly put out. "Well then sweet thing," the nautolan purred as she leaned close and pressed her lips to his cheeks. "Come back when you do have the time. And we will show you things you've only dreamed off."

Harry just barely managed to keep his jaw from hitting the ground as he watched the two saunter off into the crowd. Turning around he saw that Ginny, while seemingly glaring at the two women, also seemed to be having trouble holding in her laughter. Aela wasn't as subtle. His supposed guard for the day was grinning from ear to ear.

"You brought me by here on purpose, didn't you?" Harry growled as he marched past Aela.

"Of course." Aela smiled patting him on the shoulder. "It's way too much fun, not to mention it's not easy, to fluster boys your age. And two scantily clad beautiful women? Please…it was practically gift wrapped."

Grumbling, Harry continued on down the market. "If you keep that up Ginny we're not going to stop for you to buy something." Harry said over his shoulder as Ginny failed to hold in her amusement any longer.

"Fine." Ginny smiled, crossing her arms over her chest. "Spoilsport."

They did actually stop at a small vendor that was selling working models of ships and something called hover bikes. Ginny ended up spending most of her allotment of credits but she did purchase a model speeder that was supposedly functional. When Harry voice his doubts Ginny merely shrugged then said in a low voice that if it didn't work she would simply charm it to fly.

Following Aela, she led the two of them up to a stall where a toydarian, if Harry remembered correctly, was lounging against his stall table. As they drew closer Harry realized the creature wasn't just leaning against his table. He was sleeping. "Good thing he doesn't have anything on display." Ginny mumbled quietly.

"We toydarians are light sleepers little human." The toydarian said suddenly wide awake and using his wings so he was hovering at the same height as Harry and Ginny.

Ginny started slightly, but Harry managed to keep his composure. "We're here to buy an astromech droid. Word is that you're one of the best dealer around."

At the word 'buy' the toydarian's eyes almost literally lit up. "Yes, of course! And you heard correctly young human. I am the best around. Come come, see what I have in stock."

Following the floating creature into his shop, Harry saw that there where nearly a dozen different astromech droids as well as a few other types of droids he didn't recognize lining the walls. Harry had spent the few hours he had before leaving with Aela studying astromech droids on the holonet, so he had a fairly good idea about what he was after.

"As you can see," the toydarian said waving his hand around. "I have several of the R series astromech droids. All good quality I assure you of that. And…oh that pathetic girl! Slave! Get in here now!"

From the back of the shop a small blue skinned nautolan poked her head out and hesitantly came forward. Harry's fist clenched tightly as he noticed the large slave collar around her neck. _'For Merlin's sake! She can't be more than seven or eight years old!_ ' And that wasn't all he noticed. As she stepped forward Harry sensed something. _'She's Force sensitive to boot!_ '

Once she was close enough the toydarian smacked her across the top of her head knocking her to the ground. He then started yelling at her in Huttese, to which she meekly nodded before picking up a rag and cleaning an oil spill on the floor.

Reaching back, Harry just barely managed to catch Ginny's arm before she drew her lightsaber. When the two met each other's eyes Harry sadly shook his head. They couldn't risk exposure.

"Sorry about that little display." The toydarian apologized. "Just bought her last week. Seems to work alright with mechanics but still working on cleaning duties. Now…what type of astromech can I interest you in?"

Trying his best to ignore the slight crying girl on the floor, Harry met the toydarian's eyes and tried to do a quick scan…but came up completely empty. 'Damn it, I can't read him.' "We already have one, but two would be beneficial seeing as how our mother is a bounty hunter."

One thing his mother had taught him about bartering. Never seem to be in need of whatever you were shopping for. The toydarian frowned slightly as he stared at Harry, then Ginny and the Aela. "Well…one can never be too safe. Especially in such a dangerous profession. I take it you two are siblings then. And this one is your mother's hired help yes? Yes of course. Now, what model where you interested in?"

Making a show of looking over each droid, Harry made a full lap around the store with Ginny. All the while keeping an eye on the young girl. "I thought you were the best dealer in the colony?" Harry half questioned as he stood before the toydarian. "I can walk down the street and buy any of these astromechs you have on display. If you want my business, you're going to have to impress me."

The toydarian glared at him for a second before turning and barking something at the young nautolan. The girl quickly nodded and disappeared into the back of the shop and reemerging a few seconds later half dragging, half carrying, a container that was almost half as big as she.

"I just received this one in from…well let's just say an unnamed source." The toydarian grinned while waving off the girl. "This a prototype model, so I can guarantee that you will not find this one anywhere else."

Smacking his fist down on top of the crate, all of the sides and the top fell over revealing a large sphere like droid with another half sphere perched on top for a head. Harry could feel through his bond with Ginny that she was instantly enamored with the thing. Kneeling down he made a show of inspecting the droid. "What is its designation? I don't think I've ever seen anything like this."

"BB-8, I believe is what my supplier named it." The toydarian said, obviously pleased with Harry's reaction. "And I can let it go for…oh say ten thousand credits."

Standing, Harry fixed the toydarian with a glare. Not necessarily a hard feat considering he was still pissed off about the little slave girl now trying to make herself as small as possible in the corner. "I can buy a ship for that price." Harry responded coldly. "I can buy a new R5 unit for less than a thousand credits. One thousand for this one."

Scratching his chin, the toydarian stared back and forth between Harry and the droid. "Well…maybe I overestimated its value. But it is a prototype. Five thousand."

"A prototype that you neither bought at price nor created." Harry countered back. "Two thousand."

Now the toydarian actually seemed to be enjoying their banter. "Three thousand and not a single credit less."

Considering that Harry had four thousand on him, he nodded his consent. "And I'll be taking your slave girl also." Harry announced making four head's shoot up in surprise. "You said that she's skilled mechanic right? Our last one died and she's just the right size to fit into small places on a ship."

The toydarian was no longer amused. "You might have talked me down on the droid human, but that girl cost me quite a sum on the block last week and she hasn't even earned a fraction of that back. You want her and the droid? Eight thousand and not a credit less!"

Staring back at the little girl, Harry bit his lip. Her eyes were wide as she looked back and forth between Harry and the toydarian. She might not be able to understand what they were saying, but she understood that it was about her. And the hopeful looks she was giving Harry…

 _'Morgana's cold tit…why am I such a pushover? I don't have eight thousand…and I can't just go an ask mother for it either. But I can't just leave her here. Especially as she's Force sensitive. This arse-whip will probably sell her to the Empire the moment she does anything Force related. Think Harry! There has to be something you can do…wait! That's it! The holonet said that all toydarian's have the same weakness!'_

"How about a gamble then." Harry said turning back to the toydarian and while ignoring the sudden stiffing of Ginny and Aela behind him. "You name the game. Two rounds. The first round is my four thousand credits versus this BB-8 unit. If I win, then we go onto the second round. Which will be the BB-8 unit and my four thousand credits against her."

The toydarian hummed while rubbing his chin. Harry had just laid down a bet for an extra thousand credits that gave the shop owner two chances to win versus Harry's one loss and done. "Deal!" The toydarian laugh holding out his hand for Harry to shake.

Shaking his hand, Harry took a step back. "What's the game?"

Smiling, the toydarian pulled out three dice from his pocket. "These are chance cubes." He explained holding them up for Harry to see. "I roll both times. If red comes up on at least two of them, then I win. If blue…then you win."

Harry felt himself smile. Of all of the games he could've picked. He was sure that the dice were loaded, but in the end it wouldn't matter. "Deal."

Smiling, the toydarian shook the dice in his hand before rolling them onto the floor. All it took was a subtle wave of his hand and a gentle push with the Force and two of the dice came up blue. The toydarian glared first at the dice and then at Harry. "It appears that luck is with you human." The flying creature said as he went and collected the dice. "The droid is yours. But your luck won't hold this time."

Shaking his hand, the toydarian threw the dice again. With another slight move from Harry all three dice came up blue.

The toydarian stared uncomprehendingly at the dice for a moment. "No!" He shouted rounded on Harry. "That wasn't a fair bet! You cheated somehow!"

"I did no such thing." Harry shrugged. "You rolled the dice after all."

Glaring at him, the toydarian went over to the dice, picked them up and rolled them again. This time they came up with two red. "You can't have her!"

Raising one eyebrow, Harry stepped in front of the young girl. "Shall we take this before Nemir the Hutt?" Harry asked making the toydarian drop to the ground as his wings stopped flapping. "After all. A deal is a deal and a bet is a bet. That is a Hutt saying is it not?"

The toydarian was shaking with rage by the time he finally managed to get back up into the air. "Fine!" He shouted pulling something off of his belt and throwing it at him. "Take your new slave and your droid and don't ever show yourself in my shop again!"

Looking at the device, a controller by the looks of it, Harry motioned for Aela to collect the droid before going over and kneeling before the small girl. "It's alright." Harry said in what he hoped was a soothing tone when she backed away from him slightly. "It's time for you to come to your new home. And I promise you…you will never have to wear that thing around your neck again."

Holding out his hand, Harry held perfectly still as he smiled at the young nautolan. The girl looked back and forth between his outstretched hand, her previous owner and then Ginny and Aela. Deciding to press his luck, Harry reached out with gentle waves of the Force and touched the girl's mind as gently as he could. 'It's okay.' He said in his mind, making the girl's eyes widen in surprise as she heard his voice in her head. 'You can come with us. And once we're back aboard our ship we'll take that thing around your neck off. And I promise you…you'll never have to wear something like that again.'

Finally realizing what was going on, the girl smiled shyly before placing her hand in Harry's.

Holding her hand gently as he could, Harry stood up as Ginny came up and repeated his actions. The girl was far less hesitant this time and took Ginny's hand as well. "You did the right thing Harry." Ginny said as the four of them walked out of the shop with Aela pulling up the rear and carrying the droid still in its case.

"Yeah." Harry said looking down at the smiling girl. "Now I just have to figure out how to tell my mother that instead of coming back with just a droid I came back with the droid, all the credits she gave me and a Force sensitive child."

* * *

The interior of Nemir the Hutt's lair, for honestly it could hardly be called anything else, that Rumth had led them to was dark, loud and filled with smoke from at least several different forms of narcotics. And in true Hutt fashion, Nemir himself was lounging on a large dais so he could look down on the three dozen or so occupants while half a dozen barely dressed twi'leks danced around poles lining the outskirts of the room while a twi'lek slave girl sat on the dais with him. But at the moment none of the three dozen occupants or the large Hutt himself were even paying attention to the twi'leks as all of their attention was focused solely on the large metal grate in the center of the room.

Magnetically securing their crates, each of which were just slightly bigger than Harry's school trunk, to the floor Nox and Tonks pushed their way through the crowd so they could stare down through the grate at the spectacle below. Although it was hardly a spectacle. Rather a blood drenched slaughter. Below them a human male and female twi'lek, both of whom were wearing slave collars, were running around the cavern as they desperately tried to avoid the two nexu that were prowling around them. Interestingly enough there was even a fully clothed and armed gamorrean, more than likely a guard that had fallen in the pit, running along with the two unfortunate slaves. But judging by the pools of blood and freshly torn limbs laying around the pit they were not the only ones who'd originally been thrown in.

"Nox." Tonks hissed leaning in close to her. "We can't let this-"

"There's nothing we can do Tonks." Nox hissed back. "Trust me, if I could stop this nonsense I would. But if we try anything we'll expose ourselves and we'll have to fight off every person in this room as well as every hunter within this and every adjoining sector. And besides…it's already too late."

Around them the crowd roared as the human pushed the twi'lek right into the jaws of one of the nexu before running in the opposite direction. The girl managed to get one scream out before the nexu clamped its jaws down and ended her. The gamorrean, temporarily distracted by the cry, let his guard down and the second nexu pounced and tore its throat out. Now the human was left alone against two nexu. He started begging in Huttese for forgiveness, but his cries only made the crowd laugh. Soon enough it ended as one nexu grabbed his leg and the other his chest and working in tandem pulled the man apart.

" _That concludes this evening's entertainment!"_ The Hutt announced from his dais _. "Slaves! Start the music up! Dancers get moving lest you become part of tomorrow's entertainment!"_

Instantly the crowd dispersed and music started playing once more as a panel slide over the metal grate blocking the view of the nexu enjoying their meal.

" _Come_." Rumth said urging them forward.

Stepping up with the twi'lek, Nox and Tonks stood side by side before the hulking beast. _"Great Nemir."_ Rumth groveled, bowing low enough so that his forehead was almost touching the floor _. "As I promised I have brought to you the ones who brought me the wonderful jewels that you purchased from me jus-"_

 _"I can see them fool."_ Nemir growled before looking Nox and Tonks up lecherously _. "Hmm…they would be fine additions to my collection."_

"We are not here to be part of your palace's entertainment regiment Nemir." Nox said sharply. "We are here for trade. Nothing more. Nothing less."

The large Hutt rubbed at his chin before shrugging. " _Hmm…very well. Show me what you have and I will decide whether or not we can do business."_

Motioning to Tonks, her lover went back and released the magnetic locks on the crates before bringing them forward. Once they were between them and the Hutt Tonks deactivated the hovering mechanisms and opened their lids. The entire hall gasped and Nemir looked mildly taken aback at what was inside. The entirety of the inside of both crates were filled to the brim with gold jewelry all adorned with precious stones.

 _"Hmm…most interesting. Where did you collect these?"_

"You don't honestly expect me to tell you, do you? We don't know each other that well." Nox answered back. "Plus…only a fool reveals the location of their source of such fine antiques."

Nemir growled lowly before nodding towards one of his gamorrean guards. The pig faced creature stepped forward and picked up one piece from each chest at random before running a scanner over them. Once the scan was completed the gamorrean turned back to the Hutt and squealed.

 _"Hmm…it appears you are as good as your word scavenger_." Nemir nodded.

"Bounty hunter actually." Nox corrected making the Hutt's eyes widen.

" _Ah, now Nemir understands why you are selling such fine pieces. Bounty hunting has become quite the trade. And to take down the Top-Ten you will need the best weapons and warriors credits can buy."_

"Exactly." Nox nodded. "Now where is our payment?"

Nemir just started laughing, along with most of the hall. _"Hahaha…you have brought me such fine items…why should I pay you for your gift?"_

Narrowing her eyes, Nox pushed the lid down on both chests. "You should pay me because not only can I bring you more of these…but I've loaded both chests with enough explosives to level this palace and the surrounding buildings." Holding up a detonator, Nox activated it. "And I've just activated them with a dead man's switch."

Nearly every person in the room cried out in alarm as many dove for cover while most everyone else in the room drew their weapons and pointed them at Nox and Tonks. Nemir though…he just laughed. " _Hahahaha! I like you bounty hunter. I don't know if you have what it takes to hunt Jedi…but I still like you. I will pay you fifty thousand credits. Plus another thirty-five thousand worth of weapons, ammo and fuel. Take it…or join my decorations with a collar around your neck."_

Staring at the Hutt, Nox raised her foot and placed it on top of the crate. "I need supplies more than credits. Make it thirty-five thousand credits and fifty thousand credits worth of supplies. All delivered right now. Oh and these crates are seal with a twenty-four-digit access code that I will give you once you've delivered payment."

The Hutt stared at her while rubbing his large gut. _"Deal hunter. Guards, retrieve the hunter's payment from my personal stockpile, only the best then return. Slaves! Get dancing and play some music! And the get the hunter's a drink already! Or you'll all be tomorrow night's entertainment!"_

Immediately the music started up once more and the dancer's resumed their dances. Taking her foot off of the crate, Nox deactivated the detonator and pulled out the emerald necklace and passed it over to Rumth before motioning for Tonks to follow her. "Let's sit down. This will take a little while."

As soon as they sat down a human slave girl immediately gave each of them a drink that was smoking slightly before quickly moving away. "Is…is the rest of the galaxy like this?" Tonks asked while taking a tentative sniff of her drink. "And what is this?" Tonks looked at the glass curiously.

Shaking her head, Nox picked up her own drink and gave it a sniff as well. "Not all places are like this. The Hutts are crime lords. Always have been since the fall of the Hutt Empire. But despite their dubious nature there are two things that you can count on from a Hutt. And those are that a deal is a deal and a bet is a bet. They might try and swindle you as much as possible, but once the terms are set they will live and die by them. And as for the drinks…well pretend like you're drinking but don't actually drink them. There's a slight sedative and a not so mild pheromone mixed into each. A few sips and you'll more than likely volunteer to be joining those girls up on stage. Not that I would necessarily mind that…but we still have work to do." Nox warned.

Turning her glass idly in her hand, Nox carefully observed the crowded room. Rumth was currently kneeling before Nemir and holding out the emerald necklace. After a brief discussion the twi'lek nearly cried out with relief as he handed the necklace over to the Hutt, who then promptly put it onto the neck of the dancer who was lounging on the dais with him.

While they were sitting waiting for their payment they were accosted by no less than five men of varying species. Not that Nox was interested in any of them of course. Tonks did give a few of them a good second glance, especially when a human man approached wearing little more than a loincloth that did little to hide the fact that he was obviously well-endowed. Of course that same man, obviously noting that Tonks was the more willing of the two of them, pressed his luck a little too much Nox pulled out her blaster and put a bolt in his thigh less than two inches off the mark of permanently rearranging his anatomy. After that little display, which didn't even halt the constant party going on around them, they were mercifully left alone.

After nearly an hour the gamorrean guards that Nemir had sent off returned, dragging in two hoover sleds worth of crates. " _Come hunter, inspect your payment."_ Nemir shouted out over the loud thumping of the music.

Rising, Nox and Tonks made their way over to the sleds and lifted the lid off of one of the crates, which was full of credit chips. Another crate had what appeared to be two military grade shield generators within while the two next to it were filled with fuel cells to take them across the galaxy and back if they wished. Opening another crate, Nox stared found herself staring down at nearly a dozen blaster pistols and rifles as well as enough ammo to arm an entire platoon.

Moving over to the last crate, which nearly as tall as her but barely a few hand widths wide and thick, Nemir finally spoke up. " _I give this one to you in good faith hunter. And so that you'll return with more of these treasures in the future."_

Opening the case, Nox found herself staring at a sniper rifle that was nearly as tall as she. "It is one of my own personal modifications." Nemir explained with a full belly laugh. " _My weapons master modified one of the Clone Troopers powerful DC-15X sniper rifles so that it fires a small slug round instead. A true Jedi killer! Perfect for a bounty hunter like yourself."_

Closing the cases back up, Nox went over to the crates of jewelry and deactivated the magnetic seals. "And our deal is completed Nemir and we will be taking our leave." Nox replied back as the gamorrean guards collected the two crates of jewels and took them out of the room.

Nemir waved them off. " _Yes yes. Do return hunter. Perhaps next time you will enjoy my hospitality more. That is of course if a Jedi doesn't cut you down first hahahaha!"_

Taking control of the two sleds, Nox and Tonks made their way out of the palace and back onto the street. They'd barely managed to get a block away from the palace before Tonks leaned in close to her. "We've got two tailing us."

"I know." Nox replied back keeping her eyes focused on the street ahead of them as the two hovering sleds followed. "First chance we get we'll conceal ourselves and shrink the sleds down so that we can pocket them an-"

Nox nearly missed a step as she felt a disturbance in the Force. Someone nearby was fighting for their life with the Force. And judging by Tonks's wide eyed expression, she'd felt it too.

Ducking into a sparsely populated side street, Nox palmed her wand and cast a quick disillusionment charm on herself, Tonks and the sleds. Then with another quick wave of her wand the sleds shrunk down so that both could be tucked into her pockets. Standing still, Nox waited until she saw their two shadows, a pair of humans, walked past where they were standing. Both looking extremely confused at seemingly losing track of them. "You felt it, didn't you Tonks?" Nox asked quietly.

Tonks nodded. "Yes. Someone close by is using mag – the Force."

Nodding, Nox looked back towards the direction she felt the sensations originating from. Her first instinct was to simply leave the Jedi to their fate. After all…they were dumb enough to get caught in an enclosed area full of bounty hunters. But she knew she couldn't. She made a promise after all. And Ziri Nox never went back on her word. Not as a Sith. And certainly not as the founder of the Guardians. "Transfigure your clothes to look like mine and then change your face and hair to mine."

Tonks looked confused but drew her wand and waved it at herself. Within a few seconds Tonks's pink hair was gone and Nox was left staring at an almost perfect copy of herself. "Now what?"

"Now I want you to head back out into the street and make sure you get the attention of our two shadows. But don't be too obvious about it." Nox said. "Then I want you to lead them away from the ship. And once the opportunity presents itself I want you to deal with them however you deem fit."

Tonks bit her lip, but nodded. "Alright. What are you going to be doing?"

Growling, Nox looked up towards the roof tops. "I'm going to keep the promise I made." She growled out before jumping up onto the roof tops and running as fast as she could towards the Force presence.

* * *

Rounding another corner Tonks, still disguised as her lover, pressed her back against the wall and shifted her form so that she now looked like one of the twi'lek girls. With a quick wave of her wand she transfigured her clothes into the outfit that she'd seen most of the women wearing.

 _'Honestly,_ ' she grumbled as she slid her wand back into its holster _. 'These things make even bikinis seem tame by comparison! Although…I wonder what kind of reaction I could get from Ziri if I surprised her with this? Or what if I got her to wear one? Stop! Mind out of the gutter Tonks! Work first. Play later.'_

Pressing her back against the alley wall, she watched at the two shadows that'd been tailing them from Nemir's lair showed themselves. She recognized the two men almost immediately. They were two of the many in the crowd that had been laughing and cheering the entire time the people in the pit were being eaten. And they were also the ones that were trading money back and forth between themselves after everyone had died.

Tonks watched the two men looked around confused as they tried and failed to spot her. "Damn it." The man with only one eye cursed. "She couldn't have gotten far."

"Do you really think this is worth it Jayon?" The unscarred man asked while looking around.

"Of course they're worth it Kyl!" The scared one, Jayon hissed back. "The boss sent us after them for good reason. That stuff they sold to Nemir was worth a fortune. They have to know where there's more of it. Not to mention, those two fine women would sell for a small fortune on the slave market."

Nodding, the unscarred one, Kyl, started looking around. "Good points. But I still get to break in the pink haired one. Void…did you see the ass on that girl? Hmm. You can still have the black haired one."

Fighting down the feeling of wanting to throw up at the casual way these two were talking about enslaving and raping her and Nox, Tonks swayed her hips, she stepped out of the shadows waltzed up to the two men and spoke in perfect Huttese. " _Looking for something gentlemen? Perhaps I can…help you with whatever problem you have."_

The two men turned to her. One of them went mildly bug eyed at her appearance while the other didn't seem to care. "Well…hello beautiful."

"We don't have time Kyl!" Jayon "If we don't find them! We can't go back to the boss and say that we couldn't track her!"

"Oh come on!" Kyl moaned as Tonks raised her arms above her head and did a slow sensual turn. "I haven't had a woman in weeks! And I can't wait for us to catch those two! Just think of this as warm up!"

Jayon looked up and down the alley for a second before sighing. "Alright, she couldn't have gotten far. Be quick and I'll check the main street."

Smiling widely, Kyl stepped up to her and gathered her in his arms as Jayon walked out into the street. "Well babe. Do you have a bed or will right here against the wall work for you?"

"Right here." Tonks answered while drawing her wand and pressing it against his neck.

A silent cutting curse later and the man was grasping at his ruined throat and backing away from her. With a quick banishing charm she sent the man headfirst into the steel wall crushing his skull. She then levitated his corpse and moved him deeper into the alleyway.

Transfiguring her clothes to match the man's, she concentrated on her appearance. A split second later she looked exactly like the newly deceased Kyl. Stepping out of the alley she quickly spotted the other one in the crowd. "Jayon! Over here!"

Jayon stared at her curiously for a second before approaching. "Never knew you to be that fast Kyl."

"Shut up." Tonks hissed pointing back towards where she left the corpse. "I was just about to start when I spotted the black haired one hiding in the alley."

"Why didn't you say so?!" Jayon growled pushing past her and running back into the alley.

As soon as he rounded the corner he stopped dead at the sight of the real Kyl lying dead in the street. Pulling his blaster he turned towards Tonks, but he was far far too late. With a casual flick of her wand she disarmed and silenced the man before cutting off his leg with a cutting curse.

"Just so you know." Tonks growled as she shifted her shape back to her normal shape and pulled out her blaster. "I might be open to sharing Nox…but certainly not with a piece of shit like you." Three shots later and Jayon was dead with two smoking holes in his chest and one in his forehead.

"Damn." Tonks muttered as she holstered her blaster. "That actually felt really, really good."

* * *

Following the presence she was feeling, Nox knelt down on top of a roof and watched the alley beneath her. At one end were nearly two dozen bounty hunters that were laying down suppressing fire while slowly trying to advance their position. In the dead end portion of the alley was a lone human female Jedi spinning a blue lightsaber around her person in an effort to block any blaster bolt that came near her. While outside the alleyway, everyone who wasn't a bounty hunter was quickly trying to get as far away as possible leaving the adjoining street, and block for that matter, completely void of people.

As she watched, Nox could tell that the Jedi was injured severely as one of her pant leggings had been darkened considerably by blood that'd been pouring out of a wound on her upper thigh. But despite her injury, the woman kept on fighting and drawing the bounty hunters into the alley. From her position Nox could tell what the woman was hoping to accomplish. She wanted to draw the bounty hunters into an enclosed area before jumping up onto the rooftops so she could have the high ground and a flanking position. Unfortunately for the Jedi…Nox could already tell it wouldn't work.

Eventually the inevitable happened; the woman reached the end of the alley. After blocking away one last bolt the woman made to jump and while she was in midair three blaster bolts came at her. The first two she managed to block, but the third took her right in the shoulder and knocked her back down the ground.

Nox had to hand it to these bounty hunters. They were skilled. Nowhere near the level of the Mandalorians of her time. But still knowledgeable. Before the Jedi managed to recover from her fall the lead bounty hunter, a trandoshan, fired off a stunning round that left the woman a quivering mess but still conscious.

Running towards the downed Jedi, the trandoshan kicked away her lightsaber and leveled his blaster rifle at the woman. "Where are the othersss, Jedi?"

Clutching at her shoulder, the Jedi glared up at the bounty hunter. "You'll never find them Bossk…they're long gone."

The newly named Bossk knelt down next to the woman and crudely pushed the barrel of his blaster rifle into the wound on the woman's leg. "I wonderss if you ssscream loud enough…will theysss come?" Bossk hissed, pressing his rifle further into the wound and making the Jedi grunt and groan in pain. But again, to her credit she didn't scream.

Deciding that she'd seen more than enough, Nox stood up from her crouched position and reached out with the Force. All of the bounty hunters in the alleyway save for the trandoshan all clutched at their throats as Nox raised them all a full meter off the ground. Then with nothing more than a casual twist of her wrist she broke all of their necks before dropping them and stepping off of the rooftop and landing amongst the dead.

Hearing the pain-filled cries of his comrade, Bossk whipped around and took aim at her. The only surprise that he showed at the sudden death of his comrades was the slight widening of his eyes, but he was quick to react and fired three successive shots at Nox.

Just because she was feeling like showing off a bit, Nox moved just enough to dodge the first two blaster bolts before knocking the third away with her bare hand. Both Bossk and the Jedi stared at her with wide eyes for a brief moment before Bossk started to frantically fire at her. All of which she dodged with hardly any effort.

Deciding that she'd had enough, Nox drew her wand and shot a single spell off which hit the trandoshan in the chest and sent him flat against the back wall of the alley. Only he didn't bounce off the wall once he hit it. The spell she hit him with was a particularly 'dark' curse she'd discovered in the Black library. Once the trandoshan hit the wall the steel turned to a version of quicksand that slowly swallowed the trandoshan.

Bossk, realizing the danger he was in, started frantically clawing at the wall trying to escape, but the more he struggled the deeper he sunk in until only his arm was left exposed from the wall. At that point the spell cut off and the wall returned to its normal composition. And the arm that had been left out was sheared off of the rest of the body, leaving a bloody trail down the length of the wall as it fell.

The Jedi began frantically looking back and forth between Nox, the two dozen dead bounty hunters and the wall that'd swallowed the trandoshan. Apparently making up her mind, the Jedi flipped over and reached out desperately for her lightsaber.

"Tsk-tsk Jedi, that isn't very nice." Nox tsk'd while summoning the lightsaber to her outstretched hand. "And after all the trouble I went through to save your life too. Thought you Jedi had better manners than that."

The Jedi started crawling backwards as fast as she could, coming to a stop only when her back hit the wall and giving a small 'eep' as she batted away what remained of the trandoshan. "W-who are you?"

Kneeling down in front of the Jedi, Nox casually used the woman's lightsaber to point at herself. "Now that is a loaded question. Oh for Force sake take it easy Jedi. If I wanted you dead, you would be dead. Now tell me Jedi…have you thought on the words that I spoke to all of you?" The Jedi's eyes widened almost comically as Nox smiled. "I told you all…you've been betrayed by one of your own. I told you all to go into hiding and that one day I would come for you all. And I told you to focus on these words. Passion, yet peace. Serenity, yet em-"

"-emotion. Chaos, yet order." The woman finished looking up at her with awe. "It's…is it really you?"

"You were expecting Santa Claus?" Nox asked before scoffing at the woman's confused face. "Sorry, wrong mythology. Now hold still for a moment."

Setting the woman's lightsaber down, Nox reached down to her belt and pulled out a small clear vial with an eyedropper. "What is that?" The Jedi asked, her fear still very prevalent but at least now out of her voice.

"Essence of dittany." Nox answered before once again rolling her eyes at the woman's confused expression. "Think of it like kolto on steroids." Nox offered as explanation.

Removing the dropper, Nox placed two drops of the magical liquid onto the woman's shoulder wound before moving down and placing two drops onto her leg. Replacing the dropper, the Jedi watched with wide eyes as her skin quite literally knitted itself back together before her very eyes. "How?" The Jedi asked poking, slightly wincing as she did so, at the newly formed skin. "I – that puts kolto to shame! And I – I felt the Force in that…what is that?"

"Like I said, Essence of Dittany." Placing the vial back into her belt, Nox picked up the woman's lightsaber and rose to her feet. "And now we come to it Jedi."

"Come to what?" The Jedi asked, her original fear starting to creep back into her voice.

"Come to your choice." Nox answered. "You can either come with me or you can stay here."

The Jedi bit her lip and Nox could feel the woman trying to sense her with the Force. Deciding on the honey approach, Nox let down her barriers just barely enough for the Jedi to sense her. Once she did, the Jedi's eyes widened once more and she pressed herself harder against the wall. "You – you're a Sith! But…but the Dark Side it – it isn't overpowering like it was with Count Dooku."

"I take this Count Dooku is, or was, a Sith Lord then?" Nox asked and waited for the woman to nod before continuing. "Then you would be correct. I used to once be a Sith. Until I had a…change of heart if you will. Now I am both Sith and Jedi, yet neither." Nox smiled wryly at the expected confusion.

Taking a few steps back, Nox tossed the woman her lightsaber. "If you decide to come with me then I will teach you how to use the Light and the Dark side of the Force in conjunction with each other. As it was always meant to be. But in order to do that, you must abandon the Jedi tenants as you know them and relearn everything. Or, you can decide to stay here and run away from bounty hunters for the rest of your life. However long that may be. Like I said, the choice is yours, but you have to make it now."

Grasping her lightsaber, the Jedi slowly stood up while using the wall as a brace. The two stood in silence as they stared at one another. Finally, the Jedi sighed and clipped her lightsaber onto her belt. "Not really much of a choice. And besides…I've already abandoned some od the tenets of the Jedi Order."

"Good." Nox nodded. "Then this transition will be easy for you."

Her decision made, the Jedi looked down at the severed arm and grimaced. "Was that really necessary?"

"Necessary?" Nox asked. "Probably not. But that trandoshan was more than willing to torture you to get what he wanted. And judging by your eyes, you knew him. Or at least his reputation. So can you honestly stand there and tell me that his fate was not well deserved?"

The Jedi appeared to waver for a moment before shaking her head. "No. I know – knew – this bounty hunter. He more than earned his fate."

"Good." Nox clapped before turning on her heel and marching towards the exit of the alley. "Then let's get moving shall we? I'm sure that we've attracted more than our fair share of attention with this little display. And I really don't feel like fighting every bounty hunter on this rock in order to get away."

Nodding back, the woman took a step towards her then stopped. "Oh no." She breathed before looking around rapidly. "We – we have to get to the spaceport now! There…there are two more with me. I can't, I won't, leave without them."

Stopping, Nox turned back towards the Jedi and sighed. "Let me guess, you were all traveling in a group when these bounty hunters caught wind of you. You got injured in the initial skirmish and then in true Jedi fashion told the others to leave you behind while you drew the bounty hunters off? And can I also assume that you don't know which of the four spaceports your friends went too?"

The Jedi's face reddened more than slightly at Nox's implications. "You don't have to make it sound like a bad thing. But you're right. I don't know which spaceport they went too. But I can sense them if we get close enough and they'll be able to sense me. If we hurry, we should be able to at least check one or two them before they leave. And even if they leave, I know where they're going so we can just meet them at their destination."

Growling slightly, Nox stepped up to the former Jedi. "We're on a delicate time table here and I have no desire to play chase with your friend's half way across the galaxy. So," reaching out she placed a hand on the Jedi's shoulder. "Try not to clench too much. Oh, and make sure you face away from me once we're back on solid ground."

The Jedi opened her mouth to say something but before she could Nox turned and apparated the two of them out of the back alley.

* * *

The reaction to Harry's arrival back at the ship was, in hindsight, fairly predictable. His friends all greeted him at first as if nothing was wrong, but when they caught sight of the little girl hanging onto his and Ginny's hands all hell broke loose. Harry was pretty sure that the screech that came from Hermione after he'd informed everyone that the little girl used to be a slave had shaken something loose in the ship. It certainly hadn't done any favors to his ears.

Amazingly enough, the one who actually ended the whole argument was Luna. While Harry was defending his decision their resident seer calmly walked up to the girl, knelt before her and started talking in perfectly fluent Huttese. The little girl immediately latched onto Luna and began speaking incredibly fast. How Luna was able to keep up with the girl with only a week's worth of study in the language Harry had no idea. But he guessed that was why she was a Ravenclaw.

After a brief conversation with the little girl, Luna told everyone that her name was Nat and that she was extremely grateful that Harry had taken her away from the 'winged-man'. After everyone had introduced themselves to the young girl, with Luna acting as a translator, Harry drew his wand and pointed it towards Nat. Before she could react Harry cast an alohomora at the locking mechanism on her slave collar. With an audible click the collar popped open and fell to the floor where it was quickly disintegrated as Harry hit it with an incinerating spell.

Once she was free Nat stared up at him in awe, felt her neck, stared down at the charred remains of the collar on the floor and then jumped at Harry with tears in her eyes and attempted to squeeze the life out of him.

It took nearly ten minutes for Harry and the others to calm the little girl down enough that she loosened her hold around his middle. But she still refused to let go of him completely preferring follow him around the ship and hold onto his hand whenever possible.

Things continued to get even more interesting when Harry, with Nat's help and with Luna translating, managed to get the BB-8 unit out of its crate and activated. The girls all thought it was incredibly cute and showered the little spherical droid with attention. Which, if Harry was any judge, the small little droid soaked up like a sponge.

An hour after his arrival back at the ship, Harry was lounging on the couch within the galley with a completely tuckered out Nat was using his leg as a pillow as she slept. Hearing the airlock open, Harry did his best not to disturb Nat as he tried to see if his mother had returned.

"Wotcher Harry," Tonks greeted him as she marched through the galley. "Your mother had something she wanted to take care of and will be back soon an – and bloody hell! Who is that?" Tonks stopped and stared at the sleeping girl.

"Shh," Harry shushed her as Nat groaned and pressed her head harder into his leg. "She's sleeping."

Tonks' eyes darted back and forth between him and Nat. "I can see that." She whispered. "I'm asking who she is. And how the bloody hell did she got on board?"

"She was a slave in that shop you and my mother sent me to." Harry answered back while gently rubbing the girl's head. "The shop owner was abusing her so I…well I swindled her away from him."

Tonks' hair turned from pink, to red, to white. "You stole her?" Tonks looked on incredulously.

"No." Ginny called out as she stepped into galley. "Harry made a bet with the shop owner. And Harry won. And now she's with us."

Tonks bit her lip. "Alright…it's all well and noble Harry. Saving a little girl I mean. But your mother said that we weren't supposed to draw attention to ourselves. At least not yet."

"It was more than just simple charity Tonks." Harry shot back. "Reach out with your senses and feel her."

Tonks stared at him curiously for a second before closing her eyes. "Holy Merlin." Tonks gasped as her eyes shot back open. "She's magical! I mean Force sensitive. You know what I mean."

"That's why I had to bring her with us Tonks." Harry replied as Ginny sat down near Nat's feet. "You've read the holonet. You know what this Empire is doing to Force sensitives. They simply execute or torture them. I wasn't about to leave her to that fate."

Tonks stared down at the sleeping girl and seemed to wilt. "Alright Harry, you got me. And I'm sure your mother will understand too. After all, the whole reason she's not back yet is because she's off trying to save a Jedi."

"Not one, three."

All three of them jumped slightly, which of course woke Nat up, at the sound of his mother's voice coming from just within the airlock. 'Bloody Merlin's balls! I didn't even hear her come in an – and who are they?' Tonks stopped her train of thought at the sight of new passengers.

Standing with his mother were two fairly powerful humans, one man and one woman. Just as Harry was about to ask who they were then, he noticed a small child in the woman's arms.

"Harry, Ginny, Tonks." His mother began before motioning towards the three newcomers. "This is Kento, Mallie and little Galen Marek. They'll be joining us." Taking a step towards them, his mother's eyes fell on little Nat. Who, to her credit, only ducked her head slightly instead of hiding behind Harry. "Good. You found her then." Nox nodded in approval.

"Wait – what?" Harry blinked looking at the newcomers and trying to comprehend what was going on.

"Hold the broomstick." Tonks said, clearly just as confused as Harry. "You knew about this girl?"

"Of course I did," Nox said, walking towards Harry and Nat. "Why do you think I had Aela bring Harry to that particular shop in the first place? I wanted Harry to collect her."

Turning towards the little girl, his mother started speaking in perfect Huttese. After a brief conversation his mother smiled at the young girl, patted her on the shoulder and stood back up.

"She's your responsibility Harry, Ginny." His mother said walking past them. "Harry, show our new guests where they will be staying while onboard. Tonks, with me. We're leaving this rock now."

And without another word his mother swept out of the room leaving Harry, Ginny, Nat and the three new arrivals standing there awkwardly. "Well…um nice to meet you." Harry said taking a step forward and extending his hand. "Um…Kento and Mallie right?"

The man and woman looked down at his outstretched hand and then at each other. "That's right." The woman, Mallie said taking his offered hand. "Harry right? And you're…Ginny? And the little one is Nat."

Kento stepped up next and shook his hand as well. "You're…you're Force sensitive. All three of you." Kento remarked staring at the three of them before looking around the ship. "And there are others on board too. In fact…this whole ship feels like it's surrounded in the Force. Are you all Nox's Padawans?"

"Um, no." Harry answered rubbing the back of his head. "Myself and two others on board are my mother's apprentices. Ginny here is actually my apprentice, but that is a long story. Actually…everything is a long story. But I'm sure that my mother will explain everything to you later."

"Your mother?" Mallie asked as her eyes widened. "You mean…Nox is your mother?"

"Adoptive mother I guess is the right word." Harry said with a frown. "She…she rescued me after my parents were killed by a Dark Lord. She's been raising me and teaching me the ways of the Force ever since. But like I said, that is all a long story that I'm sure you'll be hearing later. Let me show you where you'll be staying."

Turning on his heel, he took Nat's hand in his own again and led the trio plus Ginny towards the cabins on the ship. "How many of you are on this ship?" Kento asked, still looking around the ship. "There are so many of you…and you're all so powerful that I can't quite distinguish between you."

"Well…you've met my mother and Tonks. Then there's me and Ginny here. Oh and little Nat." Harry said putting an arm around Nat. "Then there's Daphne and Susan. They're both my mother's apprentices as well. Hermione, Ron, Hannah, Astoria and Tracey. They're still learners but we're all around the same age, except Astoria she's the youngest. Then there's Aela and Remus as well. They're helping my mother teach us while we're – ah. Here we are."

Coming to a stop, Harry opened the door leading one of the two empty crew quarters. The room inside was completely barren. "Not to sound ungrateful…but is there a bed for at least my wife and son?" Kento asked.

"Oh, don't worry. We still need to set up the room properly." Ginny announced stepping into the room and opening one of the storage units.

Letting go of Nat's hand, Harry helped Ginny as the two of them pulled out a bundle of cloth and unrolled it onto the floor. Once it was laid out, Harry took out his wand and touched it to the top of the tent. A not so quiet gasp came from behind him as the tent, as soon as he removed his wand from it, pitched itself.

"You…you just used the Force to pitch a tent." Mallie said, staring at the tent that was barely half as tall as her. "With a…stick."

"Wand, actually." Harry smiled, quite enjoying the dumbfounded look on the two elder Jedi's faces and the look of awe on Nat's. Grabbing one of the tent flaps, Harry half entered before turning back to the others. "Well, don't you want to see where you'll be staying for a while?"

Stepping fully into the tent with Ginny, the two waited for the Kento, Mallie and Nat to enter as well. Once they did, it was all either could do not to fall over laughing. Both Kento and Mallie were staring around with wide eyes as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing while Mallie clutched Galen slightly tighter. It wasn't their best tent, but this particular tent created a living area similar to a log cabin complete with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a fully furnished kitchen area and a sitting area with four couches.

Nat however took one look around, then stepped back outside and then ran back inside. Giving out a squeal of delight, Nat then began running around the interior of the tent and started to examine everything she could touch.

"I – I felt the Force shift when we entered." Mallie stated, obviously confused. "This whole area…it's like we're encased in a cocoon made entirely of the Force. But…but how is the inside so much bigger? Is this a Force mind trick? If it is…I can't break through it.""

"This…this is actual spatial compression." Kento breathed. "Using the Force…but…but this is impossible." He looked around in wonder.

"As my mother is so fond of saying, something is only impossible if you believe it to be so." Harry said proudly.

Walking forward slowly, Kento and Mallie began examining the living space inside the tent. Placing his hand against one of the couches Kento pressed down as if to reassure himself that what he was seeing was actually there. "Incredible. How can you do such things with the Force? And how, or better yet why, have you kept this hidden from the Jedi?" Kento was truly trying to comprehend the scale and power after examining the tent.

Sharing an amused glance with Ginny, Harry opened his mouth to answer but then closed it as he felt something swell in his gut. "Wait…something's not –aah!"

The next thing Harry knew he was screaming his head off as he curled up into a ball and fell to the floor. In his mind he was strapped to some sort of hard table that was slowly leaning him forward. Just beneath him was what looked like a large exposed circuit panel with several spike protruding upwards. He could feel himself trying to avoid the spikes as his body was being lowered towards them. But it was strange…almost like he was a passenger watching and experiencing what was happening but unable to do anything about it.

Slowly the spikes turned red and then sparked. Then there was pain. Each time a spark leapt from the spikes they impacted his body. The pain was excruciating. Worse than anything his mother had ever put him through. He tried his best to keep his mouth shut. But as the sparks quickly increased in not only intensity but in frequency he couldn't help himself and he screamed. A high pitched scream that seemed strange to him.

"Harry! Come back!"

His consciousness fled the pain and he found himself back in his own body. His head was being held on either side by his mother's hands while off in the corner Ginny and Nat were holding onto each other and crying with Remus right behind the two. "Wh – what was that?" Harry asked, his voice raspy. "There w – was so much pain."

"A Force vision." Mallie answered kneeling down next to him. "But I've never seen on so…potent before to affect the receiver so."

"No. It wasn't a Force vision. At least not in the way that you understand them." His mother answer, her thumbs making small soothing circles around his temples. "A Force vision as you understand them, is a vision of something that has yet to happen. What Harry just experienced…was something that is happening at this very moment." Nox said with a grim look on her face.

Harry's eyes widened as the full implications of what his mother said sunk in. "W – we have to find her! We can't leave her to her fate! Not like that!"

"Her?" His mother questioned making Harry blink. How did he know that the person was a she?

Clutching his head tighter, his mother looked him straight in the eye. Harry, knowing what she was doing, lowered his mental barriers and let her in without any resistance. "It looks like your Emperor and his Dark Lord are taking a page straight out of the Sith handbook." She said after a moment. "And now the reason for the double bounty on Jedi taken alive becomes clear. They're torturing any Jedi they can get their hands on in the hope that it will draw others out once they sense the distress of their comrade. And once they do…the trap is sprung and they have two Jedi instead of one."

"We can't leave her mother!" Harry shouted. "We have to go after her!"

Nox bit her lip, but before she could answer a voice floated in from the entrance to the tent. "Harry is right." Looking over his shoulder he saw Luna, looking far paler than normal, walk on unsteady feet into the tent. "She is the last, and best, of the wings. Without her we will all fall together and Harry will fail."

"You're sure of this Luna?" His mother asked.

Nodding, Luna knelt down next to Harry. "She is the last face that I could never see before now. Without her Harry will only have five wings and he won't be able to soar like he needs too."

His mother stared at Luna for moment before cursing and turning back to him. "Harry, I need you to do something that is going to be quite unpleasant. Whoever this Jedi is…for some reason you have a connection with her. That is the only reason why you can sense her distress and the rest of us cannot. If we're to find her I need you too-"

"You need me to make the connection between myself and whoever this Jedi is." Harry nodded already accepting his fate. "Let's do it."

"Good." Nox nodded taking hold of either side of his head once more. "Now just make the connection Harry. No more than that."

Closing his eyes, Harry stretch out his feelings as far as he could, trying to find any trace that would lead him back to the strange woman he sensed before. Before he knew it he was back on the board. The sparks beneath him flying faster than he could follow and every nerve in his body feeling like they were on fire. _'Stay strong!'_ Harry shouted _. 'We're coming!'_

Suddenly the pain he felt intensified ten-fold as the screaming in the room died down. _'Wh-o…who are y-you?'_ A shaky voice asked.

Harry could feel his own physical body, his real body, violently shaking as he tried to fight against the pain coursing through him. _'H – Harry. My name is…my name is Harry. An – and just hold on. We – we're coming f – for you.'_

 _'No! You need to get away! It's a trap!'_

 _'We know…b – but we're c – c – coming anyway. Just…just hang on!'_

Harry felt himself being pulled back almost violently as the pain left his body in a rush and the screaming within the darkened room returned. Blinking his eyes, he had just enough time to realize that he was back with his mother, before she slapped him hard across the face.

"That was incredibly stupid Harry!" His mother shouted at him. "You could've killed all three of us!"

"I couldn't let it continue!" Harry shouted back making his mother blink in surprise. It was the first time he'd ever truly yelled back at her. "I – I couldn't let it go on. I had to give her some reassurance. I had to give her hope."

Rising to her feet, his mother stared coldly at him for a second before shaking her head. "We're going to have to do something about this self-sacrificing nobility of yours, son. You do no good to anyone dead." Turning around she motioned for the others in the room to come closer. "Kento, Mallie. Which of you two has the greater knowledge of your former Republic's battlecruisers?"

"That'd be me." Kento said taking a step forward. "Why?"

"Because by the looks of it we're about to assault a dreadnought and Force only knows how many other ships with only a frigate." His mother growled. "Remus I want you to power up the disillusionment runes and the shielding runes on board. We're going to need both if we're going to have a hope in the Void of surviving this."

"What about me?" Harry asked rising to his feet. "You're not leaving me behind."

His mother turned back around towards him. "No…you're not. Go and collect Susan and Daphne. Ginny you too." She added nodding towards his apprentice. "Then I want the four of you to go into my tent and open the chest I have in there marked with your names. Put on what you find and come to the bridge. It seems as if the Force has decided to start your trials a bit earlier than I'd thought."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here we go, chapter 2. I gotta say…I am floored by the response to chapter one! Thank you everyone for all of your support!**

 **A huge shout out to my two beta readers Dunstan Xenon and HowInMadHowie. Thank you both very much!**

 **Also thank you to everyone whose reviewed or added this story to your alerts/favorites. Thank you all very much! And please keep the reviews coming! They really help to motivate me! Critiques are welcome, I just ask that you are polite with them.  
**

 **Just a quick side note on ship sizes. For this story they will be referred to as thus in order from smallest too largest: fighter, frigate, cruiser, dreadnought, super dreadnought.**

 **Chapter 2**

Stepping into his mother's tent with Daphne, Susan, and Ginny right behind him, Harry made his way into his mother's room and immediately found the four chests laying out in the open; each of which were inscribed with their name on top. "Apparently your mother knew something was going to happen before we did." Susan remarked as she opened her chest. "Holy Merlin's beard."

Opening his own chest Harry stared down at the silver and black painted chest piece, greaves, gauntlets, and cuisse that were laid out within. Underneath the armor was a black robe and what looked like a semi-skintight undershirt and leggings.

"This…this looks like goblin wrought armor." Daphne breathed as she ran a hand along her own armor, which looked like a more feminine version of his own save for the dark green and black coloring. "And this cloak…Morgana…I think this is made from Basilisk skin!" Daphne was feeling the cloak's surface with a wide-eyed look.

"We can admire our armor later." Harry said taking charge of the situation. Not wanting to waste any time, Harry then stripped down to his underclothes and began pulling on the black leggings and undershirt.

"Harry!" Ginny gasped. "We're still in here!"

"You grew up with six brothers Ginny. I'm sure I don't have anything you haven't seen before." Harry commented over his shoulder as he rearranged the somewhat skintight clothing. "Now hurry up and get dressed. If it helps you can either go outside or I can keep my back turned. But hurry up."

Picking up the cuisse, he started clipping it around his thigh as he heard the rustling of clothes behind him. Keeping his back turned on his female friends, Harry slid his greaves and boots into place before picking up the gauntlets. He noticed that both of them had slots on the underside so that they could still wear their holsters as well. Picking up the chest piece he placed it over his chest and was just about to ask for help when the straps seemed to move with a mind of their own and secured the armor in place. _'Well…that's just convenient.'_ "Just so you all don't freak out the chest piece locks in place on its own." Harry warned the girls.

Picking up the cloak, Harry felt the outside of it briefly. It felt…almost leathery. But it was flimsy like cloth. _'Daphne's right…this is basilisk skin…Merlin. Is that what mother did with the thing after she killed it?'_ Throwing it over his shoulders, Harry did one last check of himself to make sure everything was in place. "Are you three decent yet?"

Hearing three affirmatives from behind him, Harry turned around and faced his fellow apprentices and his apprentice. Each of them had managed to put on their armor with little to no issue. Walking over to Ginny he helped her secure the gauntlets of her black and dark red armor before turning towards Daphne and Susan. "Let's go."

Walking out of his mother's tent, Harry and the girls were treated to the sight of Aela coming out of the tent that she shared with Remus. The female werewolf was dressed from neck to toe in steely gray camouflage colored armor and she was carrying a blaster rifle that was nearly as long as she was. The only decorative marks on the armor was a single black colored wolf's head adorning her right shoulder pauldron.

"Good to see that the armor fits." Aela commented while slinging the rifle over her shoulder. "Madam Nox commissioned the goblins and the best of the werewolf crafters to design them. Oh, and don't worry about outgrowing them too much. They have automatic adjusting charms layered into them. So none of you should need a new set for a while."

"You mean that this really is goblin made armor?" Ginny asked as she admired the gauntlet on her arm. "I just thought that Daphne was pulling the other one. You could probably buy half of Hogsmeade for the price of this set!"

"Madam Nox insisted on the best for her son, apprentices and her son's apprentice." Aela said, taking a step towards Harry and grabbing his armor to make sure it was securely in place. "Good to see that those little beasts are as good as their word. Now come, Madam Nox has already begun planning our attack." Aela turned around and led the group to the bridge.

Following Aela out of the cabin, the four made their way to the bridge. Once there they saw that everyone save for Remus were staring at the holographic map in the center of the bridge. Hermione was holding onto the baby Galen while Luna was sitting next to Nat. Both Kento and Mallie were standing right next to the holographic display and were pointing at what was being displayed. Instead of showing a map the galaxy like usual, it was showing an image of two large ships and one extremely large ship.

"Bee-Bee-eight was able to enhance our long range scanners enough to pick up this image of the coordinates I was able to extract from Harry. There appear to be two cruiser class ships and one dreadnought class if my memory serves me." Nox explained as she felt the new arrivals enter the bridge.

Turning towards the voice of his mother, Harry nearly missed a step as he saw her. Or rather what she was wearing. He wasn't quite sure how or when, but his mother had changed out of her usual attire. She was now wearing a tight black corset piece of armor that left her shoulders and arms bare save for a pair of long black armored gloves on either arm. Her lower robes were split up the middle of both legs, showing off her armored legs underneath. And on her back she wore a black cloak that nearly touched the floor. All in all…she looked every inch what he thought a Lady of the Sith would look like ever since she told him about them.

"That's right." Kento nodded leaning forward. "I recognize this dreadnought. It's the _Dauntless_. Served aboard her for a short time just before the Clone Wars broke out. She's heavily fortified and carries at least three full squads of soldiers at all times for defense measures."

"Is there a way inside besides the large hole on the underside of the ship?" Harry asked bringing everyone's attention back around to him and the girls.

"Whoa…bloody hell Harry!" Ron gasped. "You four…whoa. Bloody well wicked! Do we get armor too?"

"Not yet." His mother said flatly. "That is their Guardian armor. You will receive a set once you've proven yourself ready." Nox's tone wasn't cold but it was all business and made Ron quiet down his enthusiasm.

Taking a step towards them, Mallie looked over all of their armor carefully. "It almost looks like the old Jedi Guardians' Force armor that I've seen in the history holo's in the Jedi library. When it existed that is."

"Good. I was working from memory when designing them." Nox nodded before turning back to the holographic display.

"I take it that goes along with this long story you still have to tell us?" Kento asked rhetorically. "Never mind. It can wait. But yes Harry, there is another way in. Thank the Force I actually took time to study the ship when I was onboard all those years ago."

Stepping up to the holographic display's control console, Kento zoomed in on the largest ship and a specific section along its side. "All ships have at least one auxiliary access hatch. If my memory is right…there should be one right about here. And it should put us fairly close to the detention center as well." Kento pointed to the display and tracing his finger to the detention center in question.

"But even if we do dock there it won't matter." Mallie continued. "As soon as we break in they're going to know we're there. And they'll send everything they have to stop us. Then there is also the simple matter that they could simply jump into hyperspace once we're onboard as well." Mallie frowned looking at the display of the Dauntless.

"Then we disable their engines." Nox said. "This ship is equipped with an original idea of mine. I modified a bunker buster to detonate with an ion pulse. A single shot to their engines will disable them and prevent them from running."

Rubbing at his chin, Kento nodded. "In theory that would work. But they would have to have their shields lowered and that would assume that we can even get close enough to even hit the right spot."

"No problem there." Tonks said from her spot in the pilot's seat. "I've activated the stealth system and Remus has those disillusionment runes going. So we can just waltz right on up without them even knowing that we're there."

"I take it this…disillusionment rune thing is some type of new stealth drive? Or is it one of those 'long story' things." Mallie asked with a raised brow.

"Long story." Harry, Ginny, Daphne and Susan all answered as one.

"Right…we'll if nothing else it will be an interesting conversation." Kento shrugged before turning back to the projector. "But there is still the matter of the men inside the ship. Not to mention the reinforcements the other ships will no doubt be sending out against us. They have to know that we'll be heading for detention center...and they'll be waiting for us with everything they've got."

"Then go after multiple targets."

Everyone turned as one towards the one who just spoke up. And to his credit Ron actually managed to hold everyone's gaze for a moment before awkwardly looking away. "I – uh. I mean it makes sense right? In chess everyone knows you're going after the king. So you launch multiple attacks so they don't really know your intentions. Or at least where you're going to be truly attacking from."

Nox was the first one to react. "I knew that there was a genuinely good mind behind that expression." She said making Ron blush for more than one reason. "Ron is right. And I've already tasked Remus with creating our means of escape based on us splitting up. Once we enter the ship Bee-Bee will tap into the nearest terminal. Once in he'll locate the detention center, the communications hub, and the ship's reactor.

"Harry, you will be taking Ginny and Mallie with you to the detention center and rescue our captured Jedi. Kento, you will be taking Daphne and Aela to the communications hub. I want you to destroy and all records of us ever being there. And Susan, you and Bee-Bee will be coming with me to the reactor core. We're going to destroy that ship to prevent them from coming after us."

"It's a sound strategy." Kento nodded. "Unfortunately though, there is one not so tiny flaw. How exactly are we going to get out of there? Both the communications hub and the detention center are dead ends. One way in and one way out. And by the time we got to either the reinforcements from the other ships will have arrived and cut off our retreat."

"That's where these come into play." Remus spoke from behind them.

Turning around, Harry watched as Remus entered the bridge carrying three arm lengths pieces of rope in his hands. "And…what are these? How are pieces of rope supposed to help us escape?" Mallie asked as Remus handed her and Kento one of the lengths of rope.

"I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise." Nox responded with no small amount of humor in her voice that made Harry smile. "What's the activation phrase Remus?" she asked as she took took the last piece of rope.

"Ashara hold." Remus answered. "You'll have to coordinate your retreats. Can't have you coming back more than one group at a time. Trust me…the last thing you want is to be landing on top of one another."

"Nox, we're exiting hyperspace now." Tonks called out.

Turning back around at the sound of Tonks' voice, Harry watched as the blue vortex of hyperspace disappeared and they were left staring at three much, much larger ships than their own. "Bloody Morgana's cunt." Tonks swore looking upwards as they passed beneath one of the ship's his mother had dubbed a 'cruiser'. "Those things are a lot bigger than they looked on the display. Well…if nothing else we can confirm that the stealth and disillusionment charms are working. Don't even think those shielding runes would do us much good against the firepower of those things and…alright there's the big one. Kento, where am I going?"

Walking up to behind Tonks' seat, Kento pointed towards the largest ship. "Halfway down the port side of the ship. Two-thirds of the way up. That's where the auxiliary access hatch should be located."

Flying the ship in the direction Kento pointed out, Tonks nodded once she spotted the hatch. "Alright I see it. Bringing the ship back around towards the engines."

Turning the ship around, Tonks flew them back towards the rear of the ship. "Alright…tell me where I'm aiming."

"Just above the thruster to the right of the center engine." Kento said pointing. "Hope this weapon of yours works Nox. If it doesn't…we won't get a second chance at this."

"It will work." Nox responded confidently. "Tonks lock on and fire at will."

Nodding, Tonks reached out and activated the firing control. Standing side by side with his friends, Harry felt a rush of excitement, fear and trepidation surge through him as the reality of what they were about to do started to sink in. "Missile away." Tonks announced as she watched the missile fire.

Watching out the viewport, Harry clenched his fist in an attempt to keep them from shaking as the missile flew towards the ship. "Impact in three…two…one."

The missile impacted the ship just above the thruster that Kento had pointed out. After a second delay a blue shockwave emerged from where the missile had hit and the engines all flickered and died out leaving the ship dead in the water. "Huh…actually kind of amazed that it actually worked." Kento remarked sounding genuinely impressed.

"Try not to sound too amazed Kento." His mother said shaking her head. "Tonks bring us in. Those of you who are staying behind prep the medical bay for a critically injured. Astoria, keep an eye on Nat while we're gone. Kento, Mallie, Harry, Susan, Daphne, Ginny and Bee-Bee with me."

Walking side by side with his mother, Harry followed her towards the airlock in the ship. A moment later he felt the ship shudder as it connected with access hatch. "Kento, Mallie and I will enter first." His mother said, snapping her wrist to the side and drawing her lightsaber. "The rest of you follow once we've cleared the entrance. Understand?"

"Yes Master."

"Good." His mother nodded as she started to turn around only to stop. "One last thing. Every person on that ship wants to either kill you or capture you so that you can be tortured. Do not hesitate because they will not. Understand?"

"Yes Master." Harry and the others replied as each of them drew their lightsabers out of their holsters.

Reaching forward, his mother pressed down on the switch to open the door. On the other side was the sealed door that lead into the ship. With a snap hiss Nox's lightsaber ignited. "Red?" Mallie and Kento both asked looking down at her blade.

"Questions later." His mother said drawing her wand in her left hand. "Right now…we have one of your Jedi to save."

With that she pointed her wand towards the door. " _Bombarda maxima_!"

The next few moments were without a doubt the fastest, and slowest, moments of Harry's life. The moment the door blew inward his mother and the two Jedi were sprinting forward almost faster than he could follow. Red blaster bolts filled the air as the three of them ducked, weave and deflected their way down the hall. Harry was felt awestruck as he watched his mother and the Jedi cut down nearly a dozen men in white armor without hesitation and without mercy.

As he watched the three move down the hall, Harry noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. A lone man in white armor was slowly leaning out from an opening between Harry and his mother while raising his blaster.

Harry didn't even think. Stepping fully into the ship he reached out with the Force and pulled the man in armor towards him while at the same time activating his dark purple lightsaber. The man in white managed to get out a single strangled yell before he was impaled through the chest on his lightsaber.

Pulling his lightsaber out, Harry let the corpse fall to the ground. Turning around he saw that Daphne, Susan and Ginny were all staring at him with wide eyes while Aela was staring at him with respect.

"Well done son." Turning back around Harry saw that his mother and the two Jedi had cleared out the hall. "Bee-Bee, there's a terminal up here. Plug in and find our lost Jedi."

Beeping an affirmative, Bee-bee rolled forward towards the terminal his mother was standing before. Once the droid plugged in Harry and the others stepped into the ship fully. "Seal off the entrance Bee-Bee." Nox ordered, to which BB-8 beeped and a force field appeared over the blown out door. Lifting up her arm, Nox activated her comm. "Tonks, we're in and the door is sealed. Pull back and stay hidden."

 _ **"Good timing Nox. Got about a dozen fighters that are flying circles around us right now. Thank Merlin Remus got those runes right. No I am not doubting your skills Remus I just – oh shut up! I'll pay you later and – oh no. This thing is still on isn't it? Well um…good luck everyone. Stay safe."**_

As his mother let her arm fall down, BB-8 started beeping widely. "What is he saying?" Harry asked looking up at his mother.

"He says that he's located our objectives." His mother stated plainly. "The communications hub is down the corridor to the left and two decks down Daphne, Kento and Aela that one is yours. Susan will follow me. Harry, your objective is to the left and three decks up. Keep communications open and-" BB-8 started fidgeting and beeping and whistling. "Uh. Well it appears that we are not the only intrudes on board. Bee-Bee just finished accessing the ship's logs. Apparently an hour ago they received a call from a bounty hunter saying they had a Jedi for them. Only when they brought the ship aboard it was completely empty." Nox was musing the irony of the situation.

Closing her eyes, Harry could feel as his mother reached out through the Force. After a moment he felt her pull back as a smile slowly appeared on her face. "Hmm…so we meet again."

"Who is it?" Mallie asked looking around for any more opposition.

"Truthfully, I don't know." His mother shrugged. "But if you happen to run across a Rutian twi'lek, let her know that she still owes me for saving her life from her troopers back on that jungle planet. Now move out. It won't be long until reinforcements arrive."

Everyone split up into their predetermined groups and started to move off. "Harry. Wait."

Harry stopped and turned around to face his mother. Stepping up to him, she placed a hand on either of his shoulders. "I can feel your anger over what is happening to this woman son. Use it. But don't let it use you." Nox spoke softly looking into Harry's eyes.

Gripping his lightsaber tightly, Harry nodded. "Yes mother."

* * *

Sitting on the command deck, the Second Brother staggered his feet as his ship was rocked violently. "CT-4561. Report."

The clone sitting behind ship's support terminal on the bridge began pulling up multiple screens. "We've been hit by some sort of ion pulse my Lord. Weapon type…unknown. Origin of attack…unknown. Both cruisers are reporting in…neither saw anything nor are any of their scanners picking up any ship. My Lord, it's probable that the attack originated from a stealth ship and they reentered their stealth after they- ah!"

"I did not ask for your thoughts Trooper." Second Brother growled as he used the Force to lift the clone off of his chair by his throat before dropping him back down. "Keep your opinions to yourself and report only what I tell you to."

"Y-yes…my Lord." The clone coughed while rubbing his throat.

"My Lord!" Another trooper shouted from the other side of the command deck. "Report from auxiliary access hatch three. The ship has been breached. Report is that there's one – no. Three Jedi have entered the ship and – sir…we've lost contact with the troopers in that sector."

Leaning back in his seat, Second Brother rubbed at his chin and felt a smile come over his face. He thought that he'd been given a gift from the Force when the Ahsoka Tano had been delivered to him by the bounty hunter. But now…now there were three Jedi on board his ship as well. Lord Vader would be most pleased with him when he arrived. "Are they heading for the detention center?"

"Yes sir. Wait." CT-4561 said, his hands moving frantically over his controls. "They've split up into three groups' sir. And…and there appear to be more than just the original three sir. They're destroying the cameras as they go. But last image sent shows that there at least two Jedi in each group. One older and one younger."

Now the Second Brother really did smile. At least three Masters or Knights and three Padawans. Lord Vader was sure to grant him the position as Grand Inquisitor now. "Where are they heading?"

"Our tactical analysis suggests that they are heading for the communications hub, the reactor core and the detention center my Lord." Another trooper shouted out.

Closing his eyes, Second Brother stretched out his senses as he tried to feel out the opposition. ' _Hm, strange. There seems to be some sort of cloak over them blocking them from my view. But…but I can still sense their power. The strongest seems to be heading to the reactor core. But…but there is another. Young. Not fully trained. But incredibly strong. That one will make for an excellent apprentice.'_

Standing from his seat, Second Brother straightened his robes. "Reinforce the garrisons within the communications center and the detention center. Kill the elder Jedi should they resist. But I want the young ones captured alive. I will deal with the Jedi heading for the reactor core myself."

* * *

Blocking another blaster bolt, Harry used the Force to pull the trooper that fired it out from behind his cover before using his wand to cast a powerful reductor curse right into the man's chest. "That seems to be the last of them." He breathed while lowering his lightsaber but not deactivating it.

"For now." Mallie concurred while stepping past him and checking around the next corner. "But more will be coming soon. We need to hurry."

Harry made to follow, but stopped when he saw Ginny staring at the trooper that she had killed. Stepping up to her, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ginny?"

"I – I've never killed anyone Harry." Ginny said quietly. "How…how do you do it Harry?"

There wasn't any need for her to clarify her question. "Because he tried to kill me and you, Ginny. I don't enjoy killing. But if it comes down between someone who's trying to hurt myself or those I care about and them. Then I won't hesitate to end them."

Nodding, Ginny sniffed loudly before purposefully turning her back on the body. "Right…let's go."

Running down the corridor the two managed to catch up to Mallie just as she entered another corridor and skidded to a stop. "Troopers!" She cried, her lightsaber moving constantly to deflect the red blaster bolts that were flying towards her.

Harry and Ginny didn't hesitate as they ran past Mallie and straight at the troopers standing at the opposite end of the hall. Drawing his wand, Harry shot a reducto curse at the first line of troopers sending them flying backwards into the second line. By the time they recovered Harry was on them, his lightsaber cutting down two as he spun while his foot came up and struck a third hard enough that Harry heard his neck crack.

Ginny was right behind him. As he finished his spin he felt her small hand on his back as she used him to vault herself over the heads of the troopers. While she was above them she slashed her wand across her body sending out a shockwave that scattered the troopers. Once she landed she pivoted as a trooper tried to lunge for her, only to receive her lightsaber across his back.

With Ginny on one side and Harry on the other, the two had effectively trapped the remaining troopers in a pincer maneuver. Any blaster fire that was sent at either was returned, killing one of the troopers caught in the middle. In a last ditch effort one of the troopers pulled out a grenade and armed it. As he made to throw it towards Ginny, Harry sent a quick cutting curse at the man, severing his arm as the grenade dropped to the ground next to his feet.

"Cover!" Harry screamed as he ducked low and held his wand above his head. " _Protego maxima_!"

The grenade took out the remaining troopers as a quick burst of fire and shrapnel engulfed Harry's shield. Once the flames died off, Harry dropped his shield and stood up. His eyes instantly searching for Ginny. Much to his relief, he found her standing from a kneeling position. Just like him, she had a perfect circle of damaged flooring beneath her feet. For a few seconds the two did nothing but stare at one another as they surveyed the carnage between the two of them.

"Whoa…sure am glad that we're all on the same side here." Mallie said, breaking the two of them out of their stupor. "According to the map Bee-Bee provided us, the detention center should be just down the next hall. Let's get a move on before more troopers show up."

Casting another look towards Ginny, the two nodded at one another before stepping in line behind Mallie once more. They didn't face any more opposition as they made their way towards the detention center. And once they were just outside their destination they discovered the reason why.

"Reinforced durasteel." Mallie muttered as she ran her hand along the large door that was preventing them from entering the detention center. "Made to withstand just about anything. Even a lightsaber will have a hard time cutting through this."

"So what do we do?" Harry asked desperately. He could feel the Jedi now more ever before. She wasn't being tortured…but she was suffering so much that it made Harry want to be sick. "We have to get to her. Now."

"Patience Harry." Mallie chided him as she opened the small panel on the wall next to the door. "Being hasty often causes more problems than it solves. Now I just need to – ah bantha shit!"

The panel Mallie was working on suddenly burst into a shower of sparks. "What happened?" Ginny asked, keeping her eye trained down the hall for any more enemies.

Waving her hand over the panel in an attempt to clear the smoke, Mallie took one look down and cursed again. "Those fuckers sent a surge through the system while I was working on trying to bypass the panel. This panel is completely useless now."

"So what do we do now?" Harry ask, his grip on his lightsaber tightening.

Stepping away from the panel, Mallie face off with the door. "Now…now we do this the hard way." She said just before she drew her lightsaber and thrusted it into the door.

As Mallie started to slowly move her blade in a large circle, Harry felt the slightest shift in the Force just as something landed softly behind him and Ginny. Pivoting, Harry brought his blade around ready to end whoever had snuck up on him. And was stopped cold as his purple blade was intercepted by a brightly glowing blue blade.

"Peace Padawan. I mean you no harm."

Ginny whirled around at the sound of the voice and Mallie pulled her lightsaber out of the door and turned around as well. "Aayla? Aayla Secura? Is that you?"

The blue skinned twi'lek's eyes shifted off of Harry and onto Mallie. As their eyes met the twi'lek took a step back and deactivated her lightsaber. "By the Force…Mallie! Thank the Force you're alive!"

"Same to you Aayla." Mallie responded while smiling. "But…what are you doing here?"

Aayla stared first at Mallie, then at Harry and then lastly at Ginny. "I assume the same thing that you are. I am here to rescue a friend. But…Mallie. Where did you find these Padawans? I don't recognize them from the temple."

"You're the Jedi that our Master felt earlier!" Ginny shouted suddenly. "Um, sorry about that."

"Your Master?" Aayla intoned. "Who are your Masters Padawans?"

"That's a long story, one best saved for a time when we are not fighting for our lives." Harry said sharply moving towards the door and plunging his lightsaber in so he could continue Mallie's cut. "But if you're really curious…then my mother told me to tell you something. She said to say that you still owe her for saving your life from your own troopers back on that jungle planet."

With his back turned to her, Harry didn't see Aayla's eyes widened nor did he see her nearly drop her lightsaber out of shock. "What? H – how do you…Mallie what is going on?"

"Like the kid said Aayla," Mallie said while plunging her lightsaber back into the door. "It's a long story. One that I haven't even heard yet. For now though…just cover our backs while we get this door open. You too Ginny."

Working in tandem, Harry and Mallie were able to slowly carve out a circle in the thick durasteel door. Once both had reached the other's starting point they pulled their lightsabers out of the door. "Push on three Harry." Mallie commanded, holding her hand out towards the door. "One…two…three!"

The carved out section of door took off like a shot under the combined push from both Harry and Mallie. As soon as the hole was cleared, Harry dove through the new opening, his lightsaber spinning around his body as he sent any shots fired at him back to their senders. Ginny was right behind him. Her green lightsaber a blur as she pounced gracefully across the terminals in the center of the room, and sometimes even across the guards themselves.

By the time Mallie and Aayla came through the opening every guard in the room was dead. And Harry and Ginny were already walking down the line of cells looking for their target.

As Harry neared the end of the row of cells, the steady pulses he'd been sensing in the Force suddenly reached their crescendo before ceasing completely. As he stepped in front of the last cell, which for some reason had its shield deactivated, Harry stopped dead in his tracks.

His sudden stop wasn't because of the fact that the woman he sensed wasn't human. Far from it in fact. Her orange skin with white markings and blue and white striped montrals, which marked her as a togruta if he remembered correctly, struck Harry as incredibly exotic and beautiful. Nor was it the fact that she was bound to a table with several spikes surrounding her body. No, what truly stopped him was the lone guard who was in the cell with her. He wasn't dressed like any of the troopers they'd faced before. Instead of white armor he was wearing a dark grey suit with several red markings on his chest.

"That is as far as you come Jedi." The man shouted as he raised his arm and pressed a button on his wrist band.

The moment he did the togruta started spasming violently as electricity arched between the raised spikes and across her body. Harry nearly dropped to his knees as he felt her pain through the Force. Immediately Ginny, Mallie and Aayla were at his side. The latter of which cried out, "Ahsoka!" Before taking a step forward. To which the guard simply pressed another button on his wrist making the togruta spasm even harder.

"Stay back! All of you!" The guard shouted. "I press this button again and she dies. Painfully. Now step back."

With no clear option left to them, Harry motioned for everyone to take step back. "Good." The guard smiled as he deactivated the torture. "Now drop your lightsabers. Do it now! Or she gets another round."

Gritting his teeth in anger, Harry held his lightsaber hilt out to the side and let it fall from his fingers. Three more hilts joined his on the floor as the other's dropped theirs as well. "Good," the guard smiled, still keeping his finger on the controls attached to his wrist. "Now you boy, kick them over to me."

 _'For Merlin's sake Harry think!'_ Harry cursed at himself as he slowly nudged one lightsaber at a time towards the guard with his foot. _'There has to be something you can do!'_ But every idea that came into his head had to be instantly discarded. If he made any move at all the guard would move his finger down that last crucial inch and the woman, Ahsoka, would be electrocuted. _'But what if he couldn't move?'_

That thought sparked an idea. It was reckless…but if he was fast enough then it could work without risking any harm to the woman, Ahsoka. He could feel through the Force that she was already at her limit.

Wiggling his toe under the last lightsaber, Harry flipped it up at the guard's chest. As the guard moved to catch the hilt, Harry snapped his left hand off to the side and he felt his holly and phoenix feather wand drop into his hand. In quick succession Harry fired off a silent full body-bind curse which hit the guard making him freeze in place. He then hit the wall behind the guard with a sticking charm before banishing the guard into the wall leaving him frozen and hanging two feet up the wall.

Holding out his hand, he summoned his lightsaber back to himself. With four quick slashes Harry sliced through the binds that were holding the girl, Ahsoka, in place. She was completely incoherent. She didn't even stir as Harry grabbed hold of her and lowered her to the ground.

Placing his hand on her forehead, Harry reached out with the Force and tried to get a feel for her injuries. What he felt nearly made him lose his stomach. She had only a few external injuries, mostly bruises and a few odd cuts. But internally…she was a complete and utter mess.

"Oh no…" Aayla gasped as she knelt down on the other side of Ahsoka and began feeling her just as Harry had done. "Hang on Ahsoka…we're here to help you. Just hold on."

Flipping his lightsaber over, Harry removed the cover on the small hidden compartment and removed the moleskin pouch that he hadn't used since his first year. "How bad is it Harry?" Ginny asked as she knelt next to him and grabbed hold of Ahsoka's hand.

"It isn't good." Harry responded, his voice heavy with fear as he frantically shoved his hand up to his wrist in the small pouch searching for the small vial he kept within.

"We have to get her to a bacta tank immediately or I fear that we will lose her." Aayla said, her voice thick with emotion as tears formed in the corner of her eyes. "I – I can't lose her too. Not after…not after everything that has happened. Please tell me that you have a tank on your ship."

"No we don't." Harry said as he pulled out the small vial and eyedropper filled with phoenix tears. "But I have something far better."

"How in the Force…how did you do this?" Mallie gasped as she poked at that guard that was stuck on the wall. "It's like…it's like he's frozen…how did you do that?"

"Later." Harry said harshly while drawing the dropper out of the small vial. "I need your help Aayla. Open her mouth for me. We need to get a few of these drops directly down her throat."

Aayla stared at him for a moment clearly confused by the request, but her need to help her friend quickly overrode her confusion and she carefully used both hands to pry open Ahsoka's mouth. Hovering the dropper over her lips, Harry squeezed three drops of the clear liquid directly into her throat.

Putting the dropper away, Harry moved quickly to close her mouth before moving his hand down and begun to gently massage her throat in an effort to get her to swallow. As soon as she did the tears took effect. Her skin, which was covered in black marks, quickly returned to a healthy orange coloring. Her breathing evened out and she stopped twitching.

Not quite believing what she was seeing, Aayla hands started checking Ahsoka over while at the same time Harry could feel her using the Force to try and once again diagnose her.

"She's…she's okay." Aayla said slowly, almost as if she didn't quite believe it to be true. "How? What…that should've been impossible."

Putting the stopper away, Harry couldn't help but grin slightly at the twi'lek Jedi. "As my mother is so fond of saying Jedi. Something is only impossible if you believe it to be so." Leaving one arm wrapped around the togruta's neck, Harry activated his comm link.

 **"I'm here Harry."**

"We've found the Jedi mother. She's…she's hurt bad. I've administered treatment and she's stable enough for us to take her back to the ship."

 **"Good. Return immediately."**

"Yes mother." Harry responded before looking up and spotting Aayla. "And…and we also ran across that other Jedi you told us about. She's with us now."

 **"Good. Take her back as well. Susan and I are just finishing up here. We'll rendezvous back on the ship in ten minutes."**

"Acknowledged. Heading back now mother."

Deactivating the comm link, Harry turned towards Mallie. "Time for us to leave. You still have that length of rope right?"

Nodding, Mallie pulled out the meter long length of rope. "Right here…although I still don't get how this is supposed to get us out of here. Wait…is this going to be like that teleportation technique your mother used back on the asteroid colony?"

Taking the rope from a steadily whitening Mallie, Harry carefully tied one end around the unconscious Ahsoka's wrist before handing the other end off to Ginny. "Sort of." Harry confirmed as Ginny pulled the rope taught.

Staring at the rope, Aayla frowned. "Teleportation is impossible."

"Only if you believe it to be so." Harry smirked as he grabbed hold of the rope. "Now grab hold. Unless you want to stay of course."

With a slightly shaking hand, Mallie hesitantly grabbed hold of the rope with Aayla copying her actions a moment later. "Alright…hold on tight. The first trip is never really pleasant. Ashara hold."

* * *

Stepping over another corpse in the communications hub, Daphne stared down at the man who'd just a minute prior had been firing his blaster at them while screaming at the top of his lungs for them to die. "Don't let your sorrow over your actions consume you young one."

Glancing up from the corpse, Daphne stared at Kento, who was currently working at a nearby terminal while Aela kept guard from the entryway. "I'm not sorry."

And she wasn't. Having come from a quote-unquote dark family, Daphne had been raised knowing that she would one day more than likely have to take a life. A fact that had been reinforced the moment she agreed to become Master Nox's apprentice. So no, she wasn't sad about the deaths. "This one here," Daphne said, nodding with her head towards the corpse next to her. "He was filled with rage…and glee at the chance to kill us."

Moving across the small room, she prodded at another man in white armor that had taken her lightsaber through his chest. "And this one…he felt neither hatred nor glee. Killing us was simply his duty. That was it. But unlike the other one…he lacked any other emotions than his sense of duty."

"You're empathic?" Kento asked, glancing up from his work.

"Slightly more complicated than that." Daphne responded before moving over to another armored man. "And this one…he felt exactly the same as the other one. A sense of duty. And that was it."

"Not necessarily surprising considering those two are clones." Kento shrugged making Daphne turn back towards him.

"Clones?" Daphne repeated in horror.

Nodding, Kento resumed his work while he talked. "During the war instead of drafting people into the army, the Republic paid to have millions of clone troopers breed to serve as their front-line soldiers. It was actually one of the reasons Mallie and I left the Order and the Republic. The Republic was supposed to stand for freedom, yet they were breeding clones, forcibly aging them and then throwing them out into the frontlines as soon as they were ready."

Tilting her head to the side, Daphne used just a slight touch of her power on the former Jedi. "That wasn't the only reason as to why you left."

Pausing, Kento looked up at her sharply. "Okay…that is one freaky power you have their young one. But yes, that wasn't the only reason we packed up and fled. The other was because we just learned that Mallie was pregnant. And not only would the Jedi Council have come down hard on the two of us…the Jedi were also being carted off by the Republic to act as generals for their new clone army. So…we left. And in hindsight…it was a damn good thing we left too."

"Why?"

Moving over to another terminal, Kento pulled up another screen and began working once more. "No one is exactly sure as to why…but towards the end of the war just as the Republic was on the verge of defeating the Separatists four member of the Jedi Council, including the battlemaster Mace Windu, went before the Supreme Chancellor. The Chancellor claimed that they came to assassinate him so that the Jedi could take over. Bunch of bantha poodu if you ask me.

"The Jedi were all killed by the Emperor's new right hand, Darth Vader. After that…the Supreme Chancellor...well Emperor declared the Republic disbanded and named himself the new Emperor of the galaxy. And his very first act was to order that every single Jedi be killed. And that is exactly what happened. The clones, who'd been serving with the Jedi since the beginning of the war, suddenly turned their blasters on their generals. There was no attempt at taking them into custody or anything. They simply cut down every Jedi they could see. And the Jedi, who'd come to depend on the clones, didn't even realize what was happening until it was far too late."

Sighing Daphne remembered the memory her master shared with them when they left Earth. Kneeling down next to one of the clones, Daphne removed his helmet so she could see his face. "Why would they turn so quickly on those they'd been serving under for years? Even if it was an order from this Supreme Chancellor. Wouldn't they question the order?"

"Well…that's the thing." Kento sighed as he deactivated the terminal. "In order to have the 'perfect soldier', the clones were bred to obey any order without question. But still…I don't know why they would turn on the Jedi so quickly. No one does."

The sound of blaster fire cut off what Daphne had been about to say next. "I hate to interrupt this little history lesson." Aela growled as she leaned out from her cover so she could fire down the hall. "But are you almost done yet? Our friends have regrouped and are heading right towards us."

"I'm finished." Kento replied closing down the last terminal before pull out the length of rope Remus had given them before they boarded. "So now I suppose is a good time to tell me just how this little length of rope is supposed to get us out of here."

"You'll see soon enough." Daphne replied before activating the comm link on her wrist. "Master this is Daphne. Kento, Aela and I have finished wiping the records of our attack here and are ready to extract back to the ship."

 **"Good. Pull back at once. Susan and I will be right behind you so make sure you clear the landing zone immediately."**

"Understood Master. Daphne out." Taking the rope from Kento, she moved around the room so that she was standing next to Aela. "We all need to be holding onto this."

Giving her a curious look, Kento reached out and grabbed hold of one end of the rope. Aela took a moment to pull a grenade from her belt and throw it down the hall before grabbing a hold of the other end. "Let's get out of here. Oh, and Kento. Make sure that you turn your head away from both myself and Daphne. The first trip is usually more than a little rough. Ashara hold."

Kento started to ask a question, but before he could Daphne felt the familiar pull at her navel and then the three of them were gone.

* * *

Letting out another wave of Force lightning, Nox twisted her wrist and used the lightning to stop the hearts of the troopers standing guard before the reactor door. Behind her, Susan's lightsaber hummed as she swung it clean through another trooper killing him instantly. Nox was actually quite impressed with her apprentice. Susan had been more than a little hesitant after her first kill, but soon after Susan had found her determination and hadn't hesitated since.

Waving her hand at the door she used the Force to blow the door off of its slider and across the large cavernous reactor room. Stepping out onto bridge like platform, she deflected the two blaster bolts that'd been aimed at her right back at the last two guards that were hiding behind the console in the center of the platform.

"Huh…a large spider web formation platform over the reactor core…you would think that engineers would've become more creative over three and a half millennia." Nox mused as she looked around in the reactor room.

"What was that Master?"

"Nothing Susan." Nox said turning towards her apprentice. "Just amazed at how little has actually changed since my time. Now come. There should be a terminal in the middle of this platform. That is where Bee-Bee will need to attach himself if he's to override the reactor."

Deactivating her lightsaber, Nox led Susan and BB-8 across the bridge like platform towards the large center area. "Here's the main console." Nox started running her hand along its length. "Bee-Bee, plug in. Susan, help him wherever you can."

One of Bee-bee's mechanical arms came out and gave her a salute before rolling up and plugging into the console. Next, Susan stepped up and bit her lip as she stared down at the controls. "Master…I'm not really sure what I'm doing here."

"I know." Nox admitted. "But you've spent more time studying technology than either Harry or Daphne. Learn from Bee-Bee, he'll tell you what to do. In the meantime, I sense that we are about to have a visitor."

Leaving Susan and Bee-bee to their work, Nox slid both her wand and her lightsaber into their holsters before walking a few meters down the catwalk in the opposite direction from which they came. Just as she came to a stop, the door in front of her opened and a human man dressed completely in black walked into the reactor. "Ah, Jedi. Glad to see that Order 66 hasn't dulled your senses in the least. Although…I must admit I don't recognize you. And I'm sure I would remember a Jedi Knight or Master as beautiful as yourself."

"Don't try to flatter me boy." Nox said shaking her head. "You don't have the power, nor the correct parts to interest me in the slightest." Nox sneered.

"Hmm, humor. Amusing. I thought that was all but outlawed within the walls of the Jedi Temple." The man said stepping forward. "You are an interesting one Jedi. You should know…I too was once a member of the Jedi Order. Until I was cast out for slaughtering an entire village of smugglers. And their families. After that, the Emperor found me and showed me the true power of the Force. The power of the dark side. And now, I am the Second Brother of the Inquisitors."

"And I am supposed to be impressed?"' Nox asked as her comm link started beeping. "Hold that thought for a second." Nox dismissed the man as if he was unimportant.

"Take your time." Second Brother shrugged. "I'm in no rush. It's not like you and the others have anywhere to go."

Activating her comm, she raised it up to her lips. "I'm here Harry."

 _ **"We've found the Jedi mother. She's…she's hurt bad. I've administered treatment and she's stable enough for us to take her back to the ship."**_

"Good. Return immediately."

 _ **"Yes mother. And…and we also ran across that other Jedi you told us about. She's with us now."**_

"Good. Take her back as well. Susan and I are just finishing up here. We'll rendezvous back on the ship in ten minutes."

 _ **"Acknowledged. Heading back now mother."**_

"That boy…I take it that he is the other powerful Force presence that I sensed?" Second Brother asked as Nox deactivated her comm. "Interesting. He called you mother."

"Yes he did." Nox nodded. "And I can already tell your train of thought. You want to turn him into your apprentice so you can battle your superiors and take their place. So predictable." Nox rolled her eyes.

"Your son will join me." Second Brother growled, drawing and activating his red lightsaber. "After I kill you, he will realize just how powerful I am. And how powerful I can make him. And he will join me. After all…my reinforcements have already arrived and are converging on both the detention level and the communications hub. There is no escape from this ship. And besides…Darth Vader is on his way. And there is no escaping from him You have no way off this ship. Surrender. And I promise you that your death will be quick. Resist. And you will suffer extraordinarily before you die."

Raising an eyebrow at how cliché he sounded, "Oh Force," Nox sighed rubbing a hand to her forehead. "Is that what I used to sound like? Oh boy…no wonder Ashara often said I needed to get some new lines. Susan. How much longer?"

"Five minutes Master."

"Good." Nox said, rolling her neck. "So I have five minutes to find out just how good you are…Inquisitor."

Second Brother's face twisted in rage as he held his lightsaber perpendicular to his body before activating the other end of his saberstaff before it started whirling around in a circle in his hands. "Your arrogance will be your undoing Jedi!"

Nox didn't even bother to draw her lightsaber as the wannabe Inquisitor charged at her. She simply raised her hand and deflected his strike by condensing the Force around her hand into a small and powerful shield. "You'll have to do better than that, child." Nox smirked as Second Brother stared at her with a twinge of fear.

Crying out, he spun around and launched another attack. Which she once again deflected with her bare hand. "That's…that's impossible!" The Inquisitor shouted as he took a few steps back from her.

Sighing, Nox rubbed at her brow. "As I have often told my students. With the Force, something is only impossible if you believe it to be so. Now come little boy. I wish to gauge your power. I can't do that with you just standing there with your thumb up your ass." Nox mocked him further to rile him up more.

Snarling, the Inquisitor held his lightsaber off to one side and thrusted his hand out towards her. Nox felt the rush of the Force hit her, but she simply countered it by putting one foot back and battering his pathetic Force push aside with one of her own.

"Do you recognize that sensation that you're feeling?" Nox asked as she took a single step towards the Second Brother. "It's fear. You're completely rank with it. It's in your every move. Now…let me offer you a counter offer. Lay down your blade and surrender. And I promise you…I'll make your death quick."

Deactivating his lightsaber, the Inquisitor put the circular blade back onto his back. "I have become more powerful than any Jedi could possibly imagine! Now…die!"

Nox was relatively surprised as the Inquisitor held his hands aloft and managed to create a small bout of Force lightning. But that surprise quickly turned to disappointment as she caught it in the palm of her hand. ' _This level of power is pathetic. Hardly even more than an Acolyte's level. Pfh. Harry can create a stronger Force lightning attack and he's a third this one's age. Whoever trained this 'so-called' Inquisitor in the dark side surely did a piss poor job of it.'_

Deciding that she'd seen enough, Nox used her free hand to send a Force push at the Inquisitor. As her attack struck the Inquisitor he lost control of his Force lightning and Nox was able to condense the attack into a small sphere of power in the palm of her hand before casually throwing it off to the side where it destroyed one of the reactor turbines.

"Well…you truly have been a disappointment." Nox sighed as she drew her lightsaber but held off on activating it. "I've seen all that I needed to see. Time to die…Inquisitor."

"Don't patronize me Jedi!" Second Brother shouted as he pulled out his lightsaber again. "A Jedi could never hope to understand the amount of power that I've gained! You are nothing compared to me Jed – ah!"

The Inquisitor starred gasping as he stared down uncomprehendingly at the blood red lightsaber that was sticking out from his chest. "Who ever said I was a Jedi?" Nox smirked whispered into the man's ear.

Gasping, the Second Brother looked up at the image of Nox that was standing before him. Slowly the image disintegrated until there was nothing left. "You don't understand, do you?" Nox whispered into his ear as she rotated her lightsaber in his back. "It's okay. It's not your fault. It's your Master's fault for not training you correctly. Farewell Inquisitor."

"Y – you…you're Sith!"

With a quick jerk of her wrist, Nox sliced through the Inquisitor's chest and pushed him off of the ledge and into the spinning turbines below. Sliding her lightsaber back into its holster, Nox made her way back towards Susan. "That was incredible Master!" Susan said completely awe- struck once Nox drew level with her. "How did you do that? He was just staring ahead blankly the entire time!"

Staring down at her apprentice, Nox gave the girl a slight smile. "While he was talking I used legilimency to break through his pitiful mental barriers. Then I cast a powerful confundus charm on him to make him believe I was still in front of him when in reality I had apparated behind him."

Biting her lip, Susan risked a quick glance over the edge of the platform. "But why did you hesitate for so long Master? You always taught us to end a fight quickly and decisively."

"Because I was curious as to just how powerful these so called 'Inquisitors' really are." Nox admitted patting Susan on the shoulder. "Now just because I dragged the fight out doesn't mean you get to dragging yours out as well. Your rule still stands. End a fight quickly and for the love of the Force…never ever monologue. It is far too cliché."

"Yes Master."

Hearing a beeping coming from her comm link, Nox activated the device. "Nox."

 _ **"Master this is Daphne. Kento, Aela and I have finished wiping the records of our attack here and are ready to extract back to the ship."**_

"Good. Pull back at once. Susan and I will be right behind you so make sure you clear the landing zone immediately."

 _ **"Understood Master. Daphne out."**_

Deactivating her commlink, Nox pulled out the meter long length of robe from her belt. "Let's head out Susan. Bee-Bee, make sure you hang on tight little guy. I've actually started to grow quite fond of you and would hate to lose you in the Void."

Giving an affirmative beep one of Bee-bee's robotic hands came out from its body and grabbed hold of one end of the robe. Once Susan hand grabbed hold as well Nox active her comm link again. "Remus are we clear for return?"

 _ **"Landing site's clear Nox. Come on home."**_

"We're on our way. Ashara hold."

Feeling the familiar pull from her navel, the reactor core disappeared in a swirl of colors. At the other end of the rope BB-8 started beeping away frantically as the droid experienced his first, and judging by what he was saying last, trip via portkey. A split second after their trip started it ended with Nox and Susan landing gracefully on their feet and BB-8 landing with a heavy thump.

Inside the cargo hold of the Ashara Nox saw that Daphne and Aela were both standing beside a bent over Kento, who was currently in the process of emptying his stomach.

"You're the last one back Nox." Remus said taking the strip of rope from her. "Harry, Mallie and that blue woman ran out of here as soon as they arrived back. Harry was carrying someone in his arms. She looked pretty bad."

"Harry will take care of her." Nox said back as she moved out of the cargo hold and towards the b. Inside the small room, Ginny was sitting in the co-pilot seat while Tonks was still in the pilot's seat. "Everyone is back aboard Nymph. Get us out of here now."

"Yes ma'am." Tonks nodded as she began plotting a course.

"Master…this radar shows how many ships are around us…what does this one do?" Ginny asked pointing at a side monitor next to her seat.

"It's a smaller long range scanner." Nox answered moving over towards Ginny. "It's mainly used to detect incoming ships just as they are about to pass out of hyperspace. Why?"

Narrowing her eyes at the small screen, Ginny's face slowly started losing its color. "Because according to this Master…five ships are about to drop out of hyperspace directly in front of us."

As soon as she finished speaking, five ships appeared almost directly in front of them. Four of them were roughly the size of the cruisers while the five was undoubtedly another dreadnought.

"Merlin's balls." Tonks gasped looking up as the ships slowly passed overhead. "Okay…I think we can safely say that the disillusionment charms work like a dream. That…and I need a new pair of knickers."

As the largest of the ships passed overhead Nox felt a dark and incredibly powerful, presence pass with it. _'One of the last two Sith Lords. Hmm…interesting. The sheer power of this one…incredible. This Emperor choose his right hand wisely.'_

"Nypmhadora…open a channel to that ship."

Whipping around in her seat, Tonks stared at her with wide eyes. "What?"

"I want to leave them a recorded message before we leave." Nox repeated while staring up at the large ship directly overhead. "Audio only."

Sharing a confused look with Ginny, Tonks hesitantly turned back towards her. "Um…can I ask why?"

"Because I want to reiterate my promise." Nox answered simply. "Plus…it would be just rude of us to waltz in and steal one of the Empires prisoners without letting them know who it was that just screwed them over."

* * *

Standing on the bridge of the _Decimator_ Darth Vader watched as his ship exited hyperspace. As his ship slowly started turning, Vader felt a feeling surge within him that he had not felt in a long time. Excitement. Ahsoka Tano had been captured and delivered to the Second Brother, who had immediately contacted him. Ahsoka Tano had been an extraordinarily gifted apprentice under the tutelage of Anakin Skywalker. Under the tutelage of Darth Vader…she would become a weapon without equal. A weapon that Vader fully intended to use to bring down the Emperor when the time was right.

"Lord Vader. We are receiving a communication from one of the escort cruisers supporting the Dauntless. The ship is under attack by Jedi my Lord."

Turning his head slightly, Vader cast a cold glance at the ensign who'd just spoken before turning back to the viewport just as the _Dauntless_ came into visual range. There was no outward damage visible to the dreadnought. Nor was there any evidence to a battle around the ship. "Hold the fleet at the position and raise the _Dauntless_. I want to know just who is attacking them."

"Yes Lord Vader." The same ensign bowed before turning back to his terminal.

Staring out at the three ships, Vader extended his senses trying to feel who was trying to steal his future apprentice from him. _'Strange. There is nothing. No…not nothing. There is something out there I sense it. But it is…cloaked in the Force. I've never felt anything like it before.'_

"Lord Vader! The _Dauntless_ isn't responding to any of our hails my Lord."

"Lord Vader! We're receiving an encrypted transmission. It's an audio recording my Lord. Point of origin…unknown my Lord."

Keeping his gaze firmly locked on the Dauntless, Vader tried once more the feel for anything through the Force. But once again he came up empty No Inquisitor. No Jedi. No Ahsoka Tano. Nothing save for the strange feeling that he couldn't identify. "Allow the transmission to come through."

"Yes my Lord. Playing the message now."

 _ **"Well hello my little Sith Lord. My my…you certainly have moved up in the galaxy. Just a short time ago you were mercilessly murdering children. And now you're a full-fledged Sith Lord. Congratulations. You've officially hit rock bottom. Trust me…I know from experience."**_

Vader felt his body, the parts that were still organic anyway, stiffen as the voice rolled over him. It was the same voice that had entered his mind after he'd just finished purging the Jedi Temple. It was the same voice that brought him to his knees in agony. And it was the same voice that'd created the grain of doubt that allowed Obi-Wan Kenobi to defeat him.

 _ **"Just thought I would leave a friendly little message to let you know that the captured Jedi is now in my care. And I also wanted to take a moment to reiterate my promise to you. Train however you will Sith. Train whomever you will. Form whatever armies you will. Create whatever weapons you will. Even hide if you feel so inclined. In the end…it won't matter. You and your Emperor may have won the battle, but the war is far from over. And before it is, I will take everything from you. And only when you have absolutely nothing left in the galaxy will I allow you to die. As a true Sith always does. Alone. And despised by everyone around them. Farewell Sith."**_

The moment the message finished Vader felt a jolt in the Force and the strange sensation he was sensing was gone. "Track the message. I want to know-"

A bright flash of light came from the Dauntless as the ship exploded outwards taking out both escort cruisers with it. "Where did the message originate from?" Vader growled as he watched the ships burn.

"I – I don't know Lord Vader." The ensign who'd found the message stuttered as he worked frantically. "They must've been using some sort of cloaking device th – ack!"

Vader didn't even bother to turn around as the ensign suddenly grabbed at his throat as he was lifted a full meter off of his seat. Turning around, Vader marched past the struggling ensign and towards the Commander of the Decimator. "Commander send out your retrieval teams for any survivors of the Dauntless. I want to know what happened on that ship."

"Yes, Lord Vader." The Commander responded nervously as Vader marched past him and the struggling ensign suddenly stopped as his neck broke.

 _'I must inform my Master. He will want to know of this development._ ' Vader thought as he marched out of the bridge. _'Worse yet…the Force presence stole my best option for an apprentice. I cannot use one of the Inquisitors. Their loyalty is to themselves and the Emperor only. Who can I use?'_


	3. Chapter 3

**And now on to chapter 3! My longest chapter to date.**

 **Just a brief moment to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed/favorite/alerted to this story. You're guy's support is incredible and is pushing me to write more and more. So thank you all very much!**

 **And before we begin, a huge shout out to my two beta's** **HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon. Thank you so much for your help you guys. And now…off we go!**

 **Chapter 3**

Ahsoka didn't want to wake up. To wake up meant that she would be subjected to more pain. But as she slowly began waking up she noticed something strange. She wasn't lying on the hard cold bed or on the interrogation board. Instead she was laying on something soft. Something incredibly soft. And she was wrapped in something warm and…soothing. Since when did prisoners get comfortable beds and warm blankets?

Almost against her own will Ahsoka eyes began to flutter open. But instead of seeing the inside of a cell block, she found herself staring up at a canvas overhang. Turning her head to the side, she saw another bed beside her only this one was empty. 'Where am I?' She thought as she slowly looked around. 'This…this looks like a barn…or a shack or a tent of some sort. And…what am I wearing? I've never worn such…loose fitting clothes before.'

"Ahsoka? Are you awake?" a familiar voice called out.

Snapping her head to the side, Ahsoka roughly pushed herself out of the soft bed, tumbling to the floor as she did. "No...," she gasped as she tried pushing herself backwards along the floor despite the screaming protesting coming from everyone one of her extremities. "No…no you can't be real! Master Secura is dead! What trick is this? No…no this can't be real! You can't be real! None of this is real!"

"Ahsoka!" The image pretending to be Master Secura gasped as she tried to take a step towards her. "Please Ahsoka, listen to me. You're alright now. You're saf-"

"You're not real!" Ahsoka shouted again, throwing her arms over her head as she tried to block out this new form of torment. "Go away!"

Various items began floating in the room before hurling themselves at the thing that dared to claim they were Master Secura while Ahsoka screamed at the top of her lungs for them to disappear.

"Hold her still!" Ahsoka vaguely heard a voice yell before she felt a pair of hands grab hold of her.

"No!" Ahsoka flailed, trying to get away from her captors. "Go away! Leave me alone! Just go-"

Her words cut off suddenly as she felt a container of some kind being forced between her lips. She nearly gagged as a viscous liquid trickled out of the container and down her throat, but try as she might, she couldn't get away from the strong gentle hands that were firmly holding her in place.

As the container disappeared from her lips, she felt herself calming down, seemingly without reason. 'What? What's going on? What – what was that?' Feeling calmer but still bewildered and confused.

Still shaking, Ahsoka lowered her hands away from her head. Master Secura was still kneeling next to her. The rutian Jedi holding onto her gently while a woman with pink hair knelt down next to her. "Master Secura?" Ahsoka asked breathlessly, for some reason her head felt much clearer now. "Is…is it really you?"

"Yes Ahsoka," Master Secura smiled, the corners of her eyes moistening as she rubbed Ahsoka's back. "It's really me young one." Although Aayla was subtly sending calming waves through the Force she was herself equally confused how Ahsoka calmed down so quickly.

Ahsoka stared up at the rutian Master for a long moment almost daring the image of the Master to disappear. But when it didn't she felt the dam within her break and she buried her head against the Master Secura's shoulder and she cried. All the pain and anguish that'd been building within her over the past weeks from her decision to leave the Jedi Order, to her capture, to her torture. It all came out at once. Mercifully, Master Secura didn't say a word. She simply held her as Ahsoka let months of pent up anguish out onto her shoulder. She cried and cried until she there were no more tears left within her. But even when she was cried out, she leaned against the Master trying to soak up the comfort that was being offered to her.

Finally managing to muster enough strength to push herself away from Master Secura, she noticed with some relief that the pink haired woman was gone. 'It's bad enough that Master Secura saw me break down like that.' "I'm sorry about that Master Secura." Ahsoka said shakily. "I – I don't know what came over me just now." Ahsoka smiled a bit shyly feeling embarrassed.

"It's alright Ahsoka." Master Secura said moving around so that she was sitting next to Ahsoka while still keeping one around her. "After everything that has happened…it's understandable."

Pulling her knees up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them and leaned slightly into Master Secura. Biting her lip, Ahsoka finally asked the question that she'd been dreading since she first learned of the attack against the Jedi. "Master…have you…have you heard anything Sky-guy…Anakin…Master Skywalker?"

"No." Master Secura answered. "I don't know who survived the initial purge. And you're the first one that I've been able to locate since it began. Well, the first I found who was alive anyway. But knowing your Master, I'm sure he's fine."

Nodding her head, Ahsoka finally took a minute to get a better look at her surroundings. "Master…what planet are we on? And how did you rescue me?"

Before Master Secura could answer, they both heard the rustling of a tent flap as the woman with pink hair stuck her head back into the room. "Is everything okay?"

"Ahsoka has calmed down." Master Secura nodded, her arm tightening around Ahsoka in a comforting manner. "Whatever you gave her helped immensely. Ahsoka, this is Nymphadora Tonks. She's one of the ones who helped to rescue you. Nympadora, this is Ahsoka Tano. A Padawan of the Jedi Order."

"Former Padawan." Ahsoka corrected quietly making Master Secura frown slightly.

"Wotcher Ahsoka. And just call me Tonks. Everyone does. And for the record, I just flew the ship. It was Harry, Nox and the others who went aboard that ship." Tonks said as she slowly made her way towards the two of them.

Furrowing her brow, Ahsoka vaguely started to remember bits and pieces of what happened. "There…there was a voice in my head. A young man's voice. He said he was coming for me. He took away my pain for a short time. And then…and then I heard his voice again. Only this time…I–I think I was in his arms."

"That would be Harry." Tonks said kneeling down in front of her. "He was most adamant that we rescue you. Well Luna was too. But Harry was the one who looked like he was ready to assault that dreadnought on his own in order to get to you. Now then, I know that this is probably a really stupid question but how are you feeling?"

"I–I don't know." Ahoska answered confusedly. She knew that after everything she'd gone through she should be in a tremendous amount of pain. And she should also be a stuttering wreck just like she was a few moments ago. But she wasn't. "There's…there's no pain. But my hands…and my feet are still twitching. How long was I in a bacta tank for?"

That had to be the only answer. They pulled her out of the dreadnought and immediately dropped her in a bacta tank to recover. "A bacta tank? Oh, yeah those are those healing bath things. Well, we don't have one of those on board unfortunately. As for how long you've been out, well it's been one full day - cycle since we brought you on board. You would've been up on your feet sooner. But the stress of the portkey negated and even backtracked some of the progress that the phoenix tears had made. Now, can you hold up your hands for me?"

Holding up her hands, Ahsoka blinked at the pink haired woman as she tried to wrap her mind around what she'd just been told. She'd only been out for a day? No bacta tank? Phoenix tears? Portkey? She literally had no idea just what this strange woman was talking about. And judging by the look Master Secura was giving the woman, she didn't necessarily fully understand either.

"Yeah, it looks like that portkey stopped the tears before they could heal you fully." Tonks said lightly touching Ahsoka's hands, which were both shaking violently. "Got just the thing for you though." The woman smiled brightly to reassure Ahsoka that she had a handle of the situation.

Standing, Tonks moved to the other side of the room and pulled out a small vial containing some sort of black liquid and a cup of water before coming back over to her. "Now this smells, and tastes, like dragon shite. But it's the best treatment available for victims of the cruciatus curse. And since we're dealing with the same thing here…well bottoms up."

Removing the top from the vial, Tonks brought it close to her lips. When it was still a full hands length away the stench hit her and she involuntarily moved back slightly. "That reeks!"

"I know." Tonks winced. "But this really will help. Just hold your nose and try and take it all in one go. Then we'll wash it down with the water okay?"

Nodding, Ahoska pinched her nose shut with a shaking hand as Tonks brought the vial to her lips once more and upended the entire contents into her mouth. As soon as the liquid hit her tongue it was all she could do not to immediately spit it back out. It was without a doubt the worst tasting concoction she'd ever tasted!

"There you go, here, drink up. This should get at least some of the taste out of your mouth." Tonks handed Ahsoka the cup of water.

More than happy to get the taste out of her mouth, Ahsoka opened her lips once more than drank greedily from the cup of water that Tonks was tilting up. "Easy now." Master Secura said as Ahsoka started for cough from drinking too fast.

Taking the cup away, Tonks set it off to the side before facing her again. "Okay, let's try this again. Hold out your hands for me."

Holding out her hands again, Ahsoka stared down amazed at just how steady they were. _'How? Just a moment ago I was shaking like crazy! Now I'm steady as durasteel. What was in that vial?'_ Even Master Secura seemed amazed as she reached out and felt Ahsoka's hands.

"Well, that should be the worst of it." Tonks said, rising to her feet. "How would you like to go for a little bit of a walk? And we definably have to get you some food. I don't know how long it's been since you last ate, but I know that that potion does a number on the appetite."

Just as Ahsoka was about to say that she was fine, her stomach betrayed her by rumbling. Loudly. "Haha, guess that answers that question." Tonks laughed as she walked back over to wooden drawer set, even Master Secura cracked a smile at her. "Here are your clothes. We cleaned them while you were asleep. And don't worry. We kicked Harry out well before we changed you into that sleeping shirt. Although I swear that boy has worn a hole in the floor outside your cabin with all the pacing he's been doing. Nox finally had enough and dragged him away, by his ear, about four hours ago." Tonks snickered at the memory of Harry being dragged away like that.

Taking the pile of clothes from Tonks, Ahsoka idly fingered her red bodysuit that she'd worn almost day in and day out for most of the Clone Wars. "We'll be just outside while you change Ahsoka." Master Secura said rising to her feet as Tonks nodded before stepping out of the small room. "Just come out whenever you're ready."

"Thank you, Master."

Master Secura stopped half way towards the entryway and turned back to her. "Aayla. Just call me Aayla. You've more than earned that right." Aayla smiled at Ahsoka to reassure of that promise.

Ahsoka felt herself smiling at the rutian Master, who nodded in return before turning around and leaving her alone.

Staring down at the clothes in her hands again, Ahsoka slowly pushed herself up to her feet. She was more than slightly surprised at just how easy it was to stand. She wasn't in any pain and her body was as steady as ever. _'What was in that liquid they gave me?'_

Setting her clothes down on her bed, she began unbuttoning the shirt she was wearing and letting it fall to the floor. Just as she reached out for her clothes again she noticed a tall floor length mirror within the room. Casting a quick glance at the entrance to make sure that neither Master Sec–Aayla nor Tonks were coming back in, she stepped over towards the mirror and, after taking a more than slightly shaky breath, stepped in front of it.

She expected to find her body battered and bruised. But instead…she saw nothing. No cuts. No burns. No bruises. Nothing. It was almost as if the past few days had been nothing more than just a bad dream. _'But it wasn't a dream._ ' She thought, tearing her eyes away from the mirror and making her way back over to her clothes _. 'I still remember everything. All the pain and agony and humiliation they forced me to go through.'_

After she managed to put the last of her clothes on, she slid her boots over as she sat down on the bed. 'But…just who is this Harry. And Tonks. And I think they mentioned a Nox too. I don't recognize their names from the Temple. But Harry has to be Force sensitive if he was able to reach out to me like that. And Tonks too…I could feel that she was Force sensitive as well. Just…just who are these people?'

Stomping her foot down to settle it into her boot, she stood up and after taking a calming breath stepped out of her room. The adjoining room looked like a sitting room of some sort complete with several comfortable looking couches upon which were both Master S – Aayla and Tonks. As she stepped into the room, both women ceased whatever conversation they were having and turned towards her.

"Looking good." Tonks smiled as she stood up and walked over towards her. "I bet you turn all the boys head's. No wonder Harry was willing to run off and attack a dreadnought on his own."

Ahsoka felt her face heating at the offhand comment. No one had really complemented her like that before. "Um…thanks." Ahsoka smiled shyly.

Grinning, Tonks motioned towards the entrance to the tent. "Come on, everyone else is eating at the moment. So this is a pretty good chance to kill two birds with one stone. You can get something to eat and meet everyone."

Blinking, Ahoska stayed rooted in place. "Others? How many of you are there?"

Pausing, Tonks looked upwards as if in thought as she stared listing off names and counting them off on her fingers. "Um, well let's see here. There's myself and Aayla here. Then there's Nox, Harry, Daphne, Susan, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Hannah, Tracey, Astoria, Remus and Aela. And then our recent additions Nat, Kento, Mallie and little Galen. So…eighteen of us all together. Now come on. Let's go get you something to eat."

Following Tonks and Ma–Aayla, Ahsoka had to stop as she felt a wave of the Force pass over her as she stepped through the tent flap. Blinking rapidly, she saw that they were inside a ship's cabin instead of out in the open. Ahsoka turned to look behind her and blinked again. The tent…it wasn't a large tent like she'd originally thought. The thing looked like it could barely hold two people sleeping side by side with each other! And there was another small tent right next to this one.

Pulling the tent flap back, Ahsoka peered inside. It was the same spacious sitting area she'd just left. Letting the flap fall back down she moved over to the other one and pulled it open. She felt the same wave of the Force pass over her as she stuck her head inside and saw what looked like an apartment room. Complete with a kitchen! "This…this isn't possible." She murmured as she looked back and forth between the interior of the tent and the small cabin they were in. "Is this…some sort of mind trick?"

"Nope." Tonks smiled, accenting the 'p'. "It's real. I believe Kento called it…oh bullocks what did he call it again? Space pressing? No…oh. Spatial compression. Yeah that's it."

"Trust me Ahsoka, its real." Aayla said stepping up beside her. "I don't know how, but somehow they actually managed to use the Force to do something that not even the greatest minds in the galaxy have been able to do."

"If this amazes you…just wait until later." Tonks said with a knowing smile. "Nox said that we're going to be giving you all a demonstration of just what we're capable of. Now come on, everyone can't wait to meet you."

Casting one last look at the tents, Ahsoka followed Tonks and Aayla out of the cabin. As she stepped out of the cabin, she felt another wave of the Force wash over her and then she could hear what sounded like nearly a dozen people talking with one another. "What…what was that?" She asked looking back at the door.

"Silencing ward." Tonks shrugged as she walked towards the voices. "Prevents any noise from entering or leaving a certain area. Pretty much a necessity for such tight quarters."

Following Tonks and Aayla through the ship, the trio quickly came to the galley of the ship. As soon as they walked into the galley of the ship, all of the noise that'd been floating throughout ceased as everyone stopped talking. As for Ahsoka, she was stunned by what she saw. The small galley was pretty much standing room only. And just about everyone in the room were human kids her own age, save for a small nautolan girl and slightly older human woman who was holding onto an infant. But more than that…every single person in the room was Force sensitive to a degree.

"Hey now, no need to make her nervous." Tonks said moving forward and pointing to the people in the room one at a time. "Let me introduce you to everyone. This blond here is Daphne and the little one next to her is her sister Astoria. Here we have Susan and Hannah. Then there's Tracey, Hermione and Ron. The other blond there is Luna and the little one sitting with her is Nat. And this here is Mallie and the little one in her arms is her son Galen. Everyone, this is Ahsoka Tano. Now clear a hole you lot. The poor girl is hungry. And most of you have studies or ship duties to get to if I'm not mistaken. So hop to it."

Ahsoka made to protest, but then her stomach decided to speak for her as the smell of food made her stomach growl far louder than before. Covering her middle, Ahsoka blushed slightly as the kids who'd been around the table quickly picked up their empty trays and made room for her. "Thank you." She said taking a seat next to the blonde haired girl, Daphne if she remembered correctly, while Aayla took a seat on the other side of the table from her.

Tonks immediately moved towards the kitchen area of the galley and began loading up a tray full of food while many of the kids nodded towards her before walking out of the room leaving her with just the two blond girls, Daphne and Luna if she remembered correct, Nat, Aayla, Mallie and her son.

"Daphne, right?" Ahsoka asked the girl sitting next to her who was sipping from a small white cup filled with something that smell delicious.

"Yes," Daphne nodded as she set down her cup. "And you're Ahsoka. I'm glad to see that you're recovering. I think Harry was mad enough to chew through the hull of the ship after he brought you back aboard."

"Speaking of Harry," Tonks said dropping a tray full of food, far more than she'd ever eaten in one sitting before, in front of her. "Where is he?"

"Master Nox was tired of him pacing a hole into the floor." The other blond, Luna, answered. "So she took him, Kento and Ginny to the hold so they could try and keep him occupied."

Ahsoka tried to pay attention to what everyone was saying, she truly did. But the food in front of her smelled so good, even if she couldn't fully identify what it was, her brain completely shut down and refocused solely on the food in front of her. Picking up her utensils, she began shoveling food into her mouth as fast as she could chew and swallow it. Before she even realized it, her tray was completely empty and she was using her utensils to scrap up the last few crumbs of food that were still on it.

Looking up, she saw that Aayla and Mallie were looking at her in mild shock, while the others in the room were watching her in amusement. "Excuse me." She said pushing her tray away. "I guess I didn't realize just how hungry I really was."

"It's fine." Tonks said, waving off her concern. "Would you like another?"

"No I'm fi-" But her stomach once again betrayed her by growling loudly. "Okay…maybe a small second helping." Ahsoka looked down at her stomach with a scowl. _'Traitor'_

"Force Ahsoka." Aayla breathed, still lightly picking at her own food. "I didn't realize you had such an appetite."

"I don't." Ahsoka countered back as Tonks set down a second tray, this one almost as full as the first, and she started digging in.

"It's because of the healing potions you've been given." Daphne said, answering her unasked question. "You were given phoenix tears on the dreadnought to deal with the worst of your injuries. Once you were safely onboard you were then given a regiment of Essence of Dittany to heal up any wounds that'd been reopened by your little portkey trip. Then when you woke up Tonks gave you a Calming Draught as well as Neural Knitter to help counter the effects of what you went through over the past few days. All of which, while powerful in their own right, use a fair amount of the patients own stored up energy reserves in order to aid in healing. In other words…we've basically starved your body of just about everything it needs to keep functioning. Hence the abnormally large appetite." Daphne explained.

"Oh," Ahsoka nodded as she scooped another spoon full into her mouth. "I've never heard of those medicines before. Why didn't the Republic use them during the Clone Wars?"

Before Daphne could answer, heavy footfalls echoed through the small room as a large human man walked into the galley. This man Ahsoka actually recognized. He was one of the masters who oversaw a few of her lightsaber classes back when she was still a learner. "Master Marek!"

Staring at her, Master Marek's eyes narrowed before a smile overcame his face. "Little 'Soka. I thought that was you. I'm glad you're making a full recovery." Then much to Ahsoka's shock her former instructor walked over to Mallie and kissed her on the cheek before going over and getting a tray full of food. "By the Force…that kid is good. Gave me a pretty good run for my credits. Last kid I saw his age that was that good was Skywalker."

Hearing mention of her former master was enough to pull Ahsoka up from her meal. _'Someone as skilled as Skyguy? No…I'd have to actually see that to believe it.'_

"Told you he was good." Tonks smiled as she started drinking from a small white porcelain cup much like Daphne's. "Nox has been training that kid since he was old enough to walk. And if you'd actually listened to your wife here, he pretty much cut a path through that dreadnought singlehandedly."

Hearing a young man's voice, Ahsoka looked up in the direction that Master Marek had just come from. "-need to keep your footing more Ginny. You're fast but if you get caught up in the air then-"

His words came to an abrupt end as he stepped into the galley and saw her. For her part, Ahsoka was just barely able to keep herself from dropping her utensil. He was fairly good looking she supposed. For a human boy of his age that is. But it was his eyes that held, no, demanded her full attention. His vibrant green eyes that almost seemed to radiate power. She couldn't seem to look away. Not that she wanted…

"Did you run into a wall Harry?" A voice called out from behind Harry breaking both his and her gaze.

 _'What is wrong with you Ahsoka?'_ She screamed at herself. _'Focus! You don't swoon over boys! Even if he was partially responsible for saving your life!'_

"Sorry Ginny," the aforementioned Harry intoned as he stepped further into the galley allowing a small redheaded human girl to follow in behind him.

Upon seeing her, the redhead girl's eyes widened. "Oh, you're up! Are you feeling any better? You had us all worried. Well…some of us more than others." She finished by nudging the boy, Harry, slightly making him cough uneasily. "Not that we weren't all worried that is."

Going over to the small kitchen area the two, Harry and Ginny, she reminded herself, both picked up a tray of food moved to come and sit down. As they got closer, Ahsoka noticed that both were covered in a thin sheen of sweat and Ginny seemed to be walking with a slight limp. Seeing the two made her fingers itch to hold a lightsaber again so she could practice as well.

"You can have my spot Harry." Daphne said, finishing off the last of her drink and rising to her feet. "I have some studies that I need to finish anyway."

"And you can take my seat Ginny." Tonks said while standing. "I need to go and relieve Aela and Remus so they can get some quote rest unquote. Thank Merlin for silencing charms."

Nodding his thanks, Harry took Daphne's now vacant seat which put him right next to her. For a short time, the two just sat next to one another neither doing more than just pushing their food around their trays. "You're…you're the one I heard in my mind, aren't you?" Ahsoka finally managed to ask.

"Yes." Harry nodded. "I–I felt your pain. I couldn't just leave you like that. I'm just sorry it took us so long to get to you."

Swallowing past the lump in her throat, Ahsoka lighting placed her hand on top of his wrist. "Thank you for coming for me…Harry."

Harry turned to face her, Ahsoka felt herself almost hypnotized by his eyes once more. "I wasn't the only one who came after you. Ginny was there with me as was Mallie. Daphne, Aela and Kento also came with us. As did my mother and Susan. And Aayla, sorry, Master Secura was already onboard trying to rescue you as well."

"Harry's just being modest." Ginny said, smiling at the two of them. "We probably could've just pointed him towards the interior of the ship and sat back and watched as he took care of the rest."

"Harry does have a bit of a…knack for saving people and for putting himself in dangerous situations." An unknown voice spoke with an amused tone.

Hearing the new voice, Ahsoka looked around just as a woman walked into the galley. There were very few times when she could actually remember being uneased by someone. She'd fought in the Clone Wars on the frontlines for nearly two years with Master Skywalker. She'd fought against Grievous. She'd even gone toe-to-toe with Ventress for several occasions. She even stood in the presence of Count Dooku. She'd stood strong against the disapproving glares of the Jedi Council. And yet…just being in the presence of the woman who just entered had unnerved her more than ever before.

"Well I for one am glad that he does." Aayla said, giving Ahsoka a moment to gain her bearings. "For Ahsoka's sake, as well as for my own. I don't think I would've been able to get her off of that ship without your timely intervention Nox."

"Perhaps." The woman shrugged before walking across the room and standing before the table. "I'm glad to see that you are up and moving young one."

"Thank you, Master." Ahsoka swallowed. That had to be it. She was some Jedi Master that had been mostly absent during the Clone Wars.

The woman stared at Ahsoka a moment longer before smiling, nothing more than a slight upturning of her lips, at her. "You're welcome young one." She then reached out and grabbed Ahsoka by the chin, not roughly, but enough to make sure that Ahsoka was staring only at her. "You're strong, young one. Don't let what happened to you rule your life. Embrace it and move on."

Licking her lips, Ahsoka could practically feel the power in her words. "Yes Master."

"Well then," Master Nox said suddenly as she backed away from her. "I believe it is time for us to have a conversation that I've been promising to have with Mallie and Kento for some time now. But first things first. _Nat, come here a moment."_ Nox beckoned to the nautolan youngling.

The little nautolan blinked up at Master Nox for a second before hopping down from her seat and walking over to her. Kneeling down, Master Nox snapped her wrist to the side and Ahsoka felt a slight surge of the Force as a thin…stick appeared in her hand. She them touched the stick to Nat's ear canals and throat, which were accented with small bursts from the Force, before standing back up. "Can you understand me Nat?"

"Yes Master Nox." The little girl said in perfect Basic. "How…how can I understand you? You are not speaking Huttese." Nat's eyes widened as she reached up to touch her ear that Master Nox briefly touched.

"It's a translation charm dear." Master Nox said. "You'll still need to learn Basic. But for the time being this will work. Now go sit down with Luna again."

Nodding, the little girl turned back around and crawled back up into the seat next to Luna. As she did, Ahsoka furrowed her brow as she tried, and failed to figure out just what Master Nox had done. One moment the little girl could only understand and speak in Huttese…and the next she was speaking perfect Basic. _'She…used the Force to allow the girl to speak and understand Basic instead of Huttese…how? That's impossible!'_

What she did next though completely blew Ahsoka away. Waving her stick behind her, a chair that hadn't been there suddenly appeared. Ahsoka stared dumbly at the chair that wasn't there a second ago. 'A mind trick? No…Master Nox is sitting in it! It's…it's really there.'

"Now then," Master Nox said as she settled herself into the chair that wasn't there a moment before. "Before we go too much farther, allow me to put all of my cards out on the table. I am not a Jedi. Never have been and never will be. Far too limiting for my tastes. No. Until recently I was Darth Nox, a Dark Lady of the Sith. And one of the highest ranking members of the Dark Council."

Ahsoka's hands involuntarily twitched towards her waist where her lightsabers used to be, but before they could move far she felt Harry's hand gently cover one of her own. Not threatening, but as if he was trying to halt her from doing anything. Looking across the table she saw that Aayla had shifted her weight slightly, no doubt in preparation for drawing her own lightsaber. However, neither Master Marek nor Mallie seemed to be too terribly shocked by her revelation for some reason.

"Wait, the Dark Council?" Mallie asked leaning forward, her brow furrowed in thought. "There hasn't been a Dark Council since the time of the…the Sith Empire…oh gods."

"Mallie?" Aayla asked turning slightly towards Mallie, who had gone completely pale.

"There are only a few records that date back to that time." Mallie said licking her lips. "But I remember reading one that talked about the hierarchy of the Sith Empire after the fall of Emperor Vitiate. It was said that the Empire was torn apart by a three-way power struggle between Darth Marr, Darth Arcazin and Darth Nox."

Ahsoka felt her own breath hitch. _'No…that's not possible. It's just a coincidence.'_

Nox however just looked amused. "Well…I'm rather impressed that I made it into history records. Even if the records are woefully inaccurate. Of the three of us only Arcazin sought total control. Darth Marr and I actually got along extremely well."

"That was three and a half millennia ago." Aayla countered back. "No species has that long of a life expectancy."

Nodding, Nox leaned back in her chair. "You're right. I should've died a long time ago. But, a mixture of my own mistakes and the will of the Force brought me here to this time. When I woke up roughly fourteen years ago I was met with three Force ghost's from my time who became one with the Force. Grandmaster Satele Shan. Darth Marr. And Revan."

"You knew Darth Revan?" Ahsoka blurted out before she could help herself. Revan had always been a fascinating topic for her. The fallen Jedi who destroyed half the galaxy before being turned back to the light and leading the charge against the Sith Emperor.

"I knew him." Nox nodded. "Fought against him. Got my ass kicked by him. And learned a lot from him. Anyway, after waking those three informed me of the state of the galaxy. My first intention was to go off and find either the Sith or the Jedi. But those three convinced me that both would be a terrible idea. The Sith, because they would try and kill me. And the Jedi because you lot would lock me away in the darkest pit you could find."

"Wait, how long ago did you say that you supposedly woke up?" Aayla asked leaning forwards slightly.

"Almost Fourteen years ago. Give or take a month or two. Why?" Nox turned to Aayla with a raised brow.

"Because that roughly coincides with the Sith revealing themselves to the Jedi during the battle for Naboo." Ahsoka answered. She'd heard the story from her Master nearly a dozen times during their short time together. "Master Kenobi fought and defeated the Sith Lord, Darth Maul during the battle."

"In hindsight…if what you're saying is true it is a good thing you didn't come forward then." Master Marek nodded. "If you had the Jedi would've arrested you under suspicion of you being the Sith Master under the Rule of Two. Quite the coincidence."

"There are no coincidences in the Force." Luna shrugged, making Ahsoka start slightly. She'd completely forgotten that the young girl was still there.

"Luna is right. And that thought warrants more investigation. But as for the 'Rule of Two'…don't even get me started on that rule." Nox growled. "It's part of the reason as to why I'm even here. Now, no more interruptions for the time being. As I was saying, after I was informed of the current state of affairs those three offered me a chance to head to a new world that was incredibly strong in the Force and build a new order of Force users that were neither Jedi nor Sith. But both. A new order that would in the end bring true balance back to the Force. The catch was just where the world was located. Deep in the uncharted sections of the galaxy."

"It took me over a year of constant near death hyperspace jumps, but eventually I found it. A world enveloped in the Force. And on its surface I found a sect of Force users that were using the Force, or magic as they called it, in ways I never even considered possible."

"Magic?" Aayla scoffed. "Magic is just the name given to the Force by those who don't fully understand it." Aayla stopped speaking when she realized what she just said and more importantly just who she'd said it too. Especially considering what she'd just seen the woman do.

"Magic. The Force. It's all the same." Harry answered leaning forward. "It's power. Does it really matter what it's called? It's not always about what it's called but how it's used."

"Harry is right." Nox said before anyone could argue further. "And I admit, I have probably learned just as much if not more about the Force on his world than ever before. But how about a demonstration Harry, seeing as how conjuring a chair out of nothing isn't apparently good enough."

Nodding next to her, Harry stood up and stood next to his mother. Ahsoka felt a similar surge of the Force as he snapped his hand off to the side and another stick appeared in his outstretched hand. Holding it up, Ahoska felt a massive buildup in the Force as he slashed it across his body. " _Expecto Patronum."_

If Ahsoka hadn't been sitting right next to him, she would've denied that what happened next was even possible. But right before her eyes a four-legged creature made entirely of light with large horns on top of its head emerged from the tip of Harry's stick and started galloping around the small room.

Ahsoka, just like Master's Secura, Marek and Mallie all moved back slightly out of shock. But little Nat screamed with glee as she hoped down from her seat and bravely walked up to the creature. "You can touch it." Harry said with a smile as Nat hesitantly held out her hand. Grinning widely, Nat pressed her hand against the light creature.

Mustering her courage, Ahsoka forced herself up out of her seat and towards the creature. "What is it?" She asked Harry as she watched Nat grin widely with her eyes closed.

"It's a Patronus." Harry answered. "It's used to ward of a certain variety of dark creatures on my planet. Later we learned it can also send messages verbally. But as for its shape, it's a stag. Each animal is different for each person."

Licking her lips, Ahsoka tentatively reached out and laid her hand against the stag. As soon as she did her eyes widened and she gasped. The creature beneath her fingertips was warm…and while not quite solid was definitely there. But the more she pressed her hand against it…the happier she felt. It was as if she could have no bad thoughts or feelings as long as she stayed in contact with the creature of light.

Abruptly the sensations ended as the creature beneath her fingers disappeared. And judging by the pouting look Nat was giving Harry, she was just as disappointed by its disappearance as she was. "How did you do that?" She asked turning towards Harry.

"Magic." Harry grinned as he tucked his wand away up his sleeve.

"The main difference between the Force, as you know it is how it's used. Jedi and Sith are not the exclusive users of the Force as you know." Nox explained. "As you have been tuaght, you allow the Force to flow through you and guide your actions. Or you try and dominate what is flowing through you and control it. The light side and the dark side of the Force. Magic however, uses the Force energy that is already within you. You expel it out of your body usually with the aid of a focus, like our wands, and shape its purpose based on an incantation, wand movement, and most importantly your intent. And in the case of what Harry just did, your emotions. Interesting thing about emotions and intent is that younglings who are magical can have bursts of what we call accidental magic. In simple terms if a child has strong emotions they have a burst of magic."

Nox nodded towards Nat "Say for example Nat was feeling angry or scared or even hungry any one of those could trigger a burst of magic if she wanted food that was out of reach she could summon it down as if she was using the Force subconsciously."

All three Jedi and Ahoska were all staring completely awestruck at where the creature of light had once been. "Can you teach me – us how to do that?" Ahsoka asked turning towards Nox.

"Possibly," Nox shrugged. "But whether or not any of you do actually learn or not will be completely dependent on how willing you are to let go."

"Let go of what?" Kento asked.

"Of everything you think you know." Nox responded before turning towards Ahsoka. "Tell me. You felt that spell Harry just performed. As you understand the dark and light side of the Force, how would you classify that technique? Dark or light?"

"Light." Ahsoka answered back without hesitation.

As soon as she said it, Nox smiled and Ahsoka had the uneasy feeling that she just walked right into a trap. "Would you still say the same if I were to tell you that the key component to that spell is a powerful positive emotion? And I'm talking about something silly like being accepted by a Master or anything like that. I'm talking about a memory or thought that evokes such a powerful feeling within you that it completely fills you with joy."

Reaching into the folds of her robe, Nox pulled out a small stone bowl. Setting it down in the center of the table she then took out her stick touched it to the bowl. As she lifted her stick, wand, the bowl grew in size until it was nearly ten times the size it'd originally been. "Now I don't expect an answer right away and nor do I expect you to believe every word I've just said. That is where this little device comes into play."

"What is it?" Aayla asked as she leaned over so she could examine the intricate carvings around the top and sides of the stone bowl.

"It's called a pensieve." Nox answered, sticking her wand into the bowl and swirling it around. As she did a trail of dark bluish liquid filled the bowl and started glowing. "It's a magical device used for examining memories. You place copies of your memories within and you can then view them from a third person point of view. Right now within this pensieve are several of my own memories as well as several of Harry's. And we're going to view them."

"How?" Ahsoka asked eagerly.

"Simple." Nox smiled putting her wand away. "You simply touch the surface of the liquid. You'll briefly experience the sensation of falling head first, but that will end soon enough and we will all be standing next to one another. From there I will show you my, as well as Harry's, memories of how and why we came to be here."

Ahsoka eyed the swirling liquid nervously. "You'll be fine." Harry said from beside her. "I've done it quite a few times. And if it helps, I'll go first."

Taking a step towards the bowl, Harry held out his hand and dipped a single finger into the liquid. As soon as he did he…disappeared. "Where did he go?" Aayla asked as she narrowed her eyes at the spot Harry had just been, no doubt trying to break through whatever illusion Harry was under.

"He's in here." Nox said tapping the edge of the bowl with her finger. "Waiting for the rest of us. Now, which of you are going to be brave enough to head in first?"

Before any of them could move, Nat stepped forward away from Luna and bravely touched her finger to the surface of the liquid. And just like Harry before her, as soon as she did she disappeared from sight. _'Come on Ahsoka! Are you really willing to be upstaged by a little girl maybe half your age!?'_

Taking a deep breath, Ahsoka stepped forward and before she could second guess herself plunged her fingers into the swirling liquid. Instantly she felt like she was falling headfirst down a dark hole. But before she could scream, she felt her body straighten out and her feet touch down onto something hard.

"Okay," she breathed looking around at the swirling mass of black mist that was surrounding her. "This is weird."

"Boo!"

Whipping around, Ahsoka raised her hands poised to attack whoever or whatever was behind her. And found Harry back peddling away from her with a giggling Nat by his side. "Hey! Sorry about that. Didn't mean to startle you."

"Don't do that!" Ahsoka growled as she turned her back on him and Nat who was standing by his side.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" Harry laughed.

"No." Ahsoka Tano didn't get scared. Startled maybe. But not scared. Nope. Never. "I don't get scared."

"Sure." Harry chuckled along with Nat.

Despite her mood and despite the fact that she was the butt of the joke, the laughter coming from the two was infectious and Ahsoka felt herself smiling slightly. Soon enough the mist parted as first Kento, then Mallie, then Aayla and lastly Nox gained their footing within the swirling mass of black mist. "Okay," Kento said slowly looking around. "This…this is certainly different. Wait…can this thing copy anyone's memories? I mean…will you be able to watch our entire life stories now that were in here?"

"No." Nox replied shaking her head. "You have to deliberately copy and place your memories within the pensieve from the outside before you can view them."

"Well that's good to know." Kento said rubbing the back of his head. "There are few rather…fun memories that I'd like to stay between myself and Mallie."

"Kento!" Mallie gasped turning slightly red. "Behave! Although that might be too much to ask for…so please just don't embarrass me too much okay? Force…considering our son has your temperament I pity the poor girl that falls for him."

"Ouch!" Kento gasped dramatically grasping his chest. "That hurts Mallie!"

"Oh get over it. You're a big boy. And don't even dare go there Kento." Mallie warned before sighing. "I just hope that Galen doesn't give Luna too much trouble while we're in here. That boy can be a handful sometimes."

"Don't worry, Luna is a lot more capable than most people give her credit for." Harry said reassuringly before turning to Kento. "I have a feeling that you're going to get along with my godfather Kento. He's a child in a grown man's body too."

"Save it for another time boys." Nox said sharply. "We're here for a reason. Now…as for what you're about to see. First I'm going to show you some memories of my time with the old Empire. Then I'm going to show you just how I came to be here in this time and my time with the spirits of Revan, Shan and Marr. Then I'm going to show you a few memories of Earth and magic specifically from both my own and Harry's memories. And then lately…I'm going to show why exactly I have risked exposure by coming back."

With a wave of Nox's hand, the mist around them dissipated revealing a landing platform on a desert planet. Not too far from where she was standing, a group of humans appeared kneeling on the platform. Each of whom had a slave collar around their neck while another human marched back and forth in front of them berating them in the meanest way possible. "Welcome to the Sith Academy on Korriban." Nox said just as Ahsoka noticed a younger version of the powerful Force user kneeling on the platform with a collar around her neck. "And the beginning of my ascension from slave to Dark Lady of the Sith."

Ahsoka watched on in fascination and horror as she watched the younger version of the woman beside her go through the trials of the Sith. As she watched, she couldn't help but be reminded of her own time in the Jedi: Studying with those her age, studying with Masters, learning peacefully. What she was seeing was nothing like that. There was little to no teaching. It was survival of the fittest. Those who fell behind weren't given another chance…they were simply killed. It was…brutal.

As the visions came to Nox being named as an apprentice, the black mist surrounding them condensed once again before reforming into large meeting hall. Again she watched completely awestruck as Nox and her beast companion battled against two incredibly skilled and powerful opponents. Then the vision shifted again and they were standing in what looked like the same room, only it was completely destroyed and covered in a thick layer of dirt.

"Gods…" Kento breathed as they watched the ghosts of Revan, Grandmaster Shan and Darth Marr converse with Nox. "Is there any way you record this outside of this…device? Master Jocasta Nu probably would've broken every tenet of the Jedi Order in order to obtain a record as extensive as this."

"Perhaps we can arrange something in the future." Nox shrugged as they watched her vision-self walk over to one of the crates and kick it open.

"By the Force!" Aayla gasped as she saw the number of holocrons that laid within. Even Ahsoka could hardly believe what she was seeing. If all of the crates in the vision contained the same number of holocrons…then Nox probably had more than the Jedi Temple! "Do you…do you still have all of the holocrons?"

Nodding, Nox waved her hand and the dark mist returned. "Yes I do. They're back on Earth." With another wave of her hand the mist started to shift again. "Now that you've seen what led me to seek out Earth, I'm going to show you combination of mine and Harry's memories regarding just what their magic can do."

As the mist solidified, she saw Nox standing with two men that were instructing her how to use the wooden stick, wand, in her hand. As she watched Nox created several items out of thin air, turned one thing into another and several perform numerous of feats with the Force that less than a day ago Ahsoka would've sworn were impossible.

Then the mist shifted and she saw a younger version of Harry walked with dozens of other children his own age through what looked like a large room within a stone, actual stone not steel, building. As she watched. "This was my first Transfiguration class." Harry narrated. "Despite how strict she is…I swear that Professor McGonagall just likes to show off for the first years."

As she watched all the kids took their seats in a classroom that had a small feline animal perched on the desk at the front of the class. Then without warning the cat pounced off the desk and…and changed shape from a feline to a human woman that reminded her of Master Nu.

"That's impossible." Aayla gasped as, with a wave of his hand, Harry backtracked the memory and replayed it. "She…she was a feline and then…human. Is that some sort of Force illusion?"

"No." Nox said shaking her head. "She really did change her shape to a cat and back again. There is a specific group of magicals known as animagus who can turn into an animal. Harry's godfather can also do the same, into a canine."

As she watched, Ahsoka was struck with a memory from her short time on Mortis. "The Daughter…and the Son. They could both change their shape." She said making all of the Jedi in the room turn towards her. "I remember that. The Daughter would turn into an avian creature and the Son…he would turn into some sort of monster."

"There, not so impossible or unheard of then." Nox smiled before nodding towards Harry who started up the memory again.

With rapt attention, Ahsoka watched as Harry and the others onboard the ship learned uses for the Force that she never even dreamed possible. _'This…this is all so incredible!'_

"However…things on Earth are far from idyllic." Nox said as dark mist returned. "There are still so-called 'dark lords and ladies' that spring up every now and then. Thirteen years ago there was such a dark lord and he was responsible for killing Harry's parents before he himself was defeated. The problem is…he didn't stay dead."

With a wave of her hand the memories shift and Ahsoka watched a slightly younger Harry walk into a large pillared room with a mirror at one end that had a human man stand before it. The younger version of Harry talked to the older man for a moment, then the man suddenly seemed unsure as a second voice joined in. Then the man started to remove his turban. As he lowered it Ahsoka, and everyone else save for Harry and Nox, all gasped as they saw a second face on the back of the bald man's head.

The three entered a strange conversation before the face on the back of the head snarled and the man leapt at Harry. With reflexes that would make even Skyguy proud, Harry drew his lightsaber and cut off the man's arm before using his wand to create a stream of fire like a flamethrower. The man stared at his arm in horror, before throwing a plethora of jets of light out of his wand, each of which Harry deflected with his lightsaber.

Just as Harry was staring to gain the upper hand, the man disappeared in a cloud of smoke and moved behind him. But it was all for naught as Harry calmly thrusted his lightsaber into the thick of the mist. As the mist faded they all saw that Harry had stabbed the man through his chest.

In one last act of desperation, the man grabbed Harry by the throat. But then the strangest thing happened. His arm, and soon the rest of his body, slowly turned to ash and disintegrated. Then a shadow with a face rose up from the ashes and slammed into Harry and the world around them went dark.

"Okay…just what in the Force was that?" Kento asked as the world around them returned to its original state it had been in when they first entered.

"That was the dark lord that killed Harry's parents." Nox answered, and Ahsoka felt a slight lurch in her as she saw the crestfallen expression that came over Harry face.

"He's a Force ghost?" Aayla asked.

Nox shook her head. "Not entirely. This Dark Lord used a variation of a Sith immortality ritual. One that fell out of favor almost as soon as it was created. Long story short, the ritual ends with the practitioner shearing off a piece of their soul and storing it in a container outside of their body."

Aayla, Master Marek and Mallie all looked like they were going to be sick. "But…but if one were to do that, then they would never be able to become one with the Force." Aayla nearly shouted.

"Correct." Nox nodded. "Which is one reason why the ritual fell out of favor. The other was because once the individual pieces were destroyed, the practitioner's connection to the Force was cut and therefore they would be weaker."

"So…this Dark Lord did this ritual and placed a piece of his soul in a container and that is why he's still alive?" Mallie half asked half stated.

"Not one, six." Harry answered making the three Jedi, and Ahsoka, turn even paler. "And we've already destroyed four. We know where another one is, unfortunately it's unreachable at the present time. But we have no clue as to where the last one is."

Biting her lip, Ahsoka thought back on what she'd just seen. "What…how did you do that…burning thing at the end Harry?" She asked tentatively. "I've…I've never seen anything like that."

"Harry didn't do that." Nox answered before Harry could. "His mother did actually. Before she died she used, at least I believe this is what she used, a variant of an old Jedi protection ritual. What it does is creates a barrier around the one intend to be protected which makes them untouchable to a certain individual. However there is a price. And in this case, the price is the casters life, taken by the one the protected is supposed to be guarded against. His mother cast the spell over him, then allowed this dark lord to kill her, finalizing the ritual and creating an impenetrable barrier around Harry."

Ahsoka felt a sudden need to try and comfort Harry, but before she could even shift her weight Nat reached up and lightly grabbed hold of his hand. Just as Ahsoka took a step towards Harry she felt herself rushing upwards and then she was back within the galley of the ship with the others standing around the stone bowl.

"And now it is time for you to make your decisions." Nox said as she drew her wand and touched it to the bowl. "You can either come with us or you can stay here. Just know that if you come with us then you will have to set aside most if not all of you Jedi teachings if you're to have any hope of learning even a fraction of what you've just seen."

Ahsoka didn't hesitate. Master Skywalker had always told her to follow her feelings, and her feelings on what to do were clear. Not that she had much to stay for anyway. "I want to learn." She said staring up at Master Nox. "Please teach me…Master."

"I'm with you as well." Aayla said with a conviction that surprised Ahsoka slightly.

Master Marek and Mallie both shared a quick glance with one another. The two had a silent conversation with one another for a moment, which ended when Mallie nodded. "We're in." Master Marek said.

"Splendid." Master Nox clapped. "Unfortunately you won't be able to truly train in this new branch of the Force until we return to Earth."

"Why not Master?" Ahsoka asked before she could help herself. "Sorry."

"Forgiven." Master Nox said before drawing her wand. "Wands are necessary in order to use magic. At least in the beginning. In time you'll be able to cast some of the simpler spells without it. But until you learn how to correctly mold the Force, you need a wand. And we don't have any spares laying around for you to use. Not that they would help anway."

"Why not?" Mallie asked.

"Because the wand chooses who it wants to serve." Harry answered, before quickly adding, "They're not sentient. But…I really don't know how to explain it. Using a wand that hasn't chosen you just feels…wrong. And it's harder to cast a spell with that wand as well. Plus using a wand that has chosen you just feels…right."

"Harry's right." Master Nox nodded. "Once we reach Earth we will get all of you wands. But first…we have a slight detour that we need to take."

"A detour?" Master Marek asked. "Where too?"

Smiling slightly, Master Nox made her way past them. "A world called Odessen. Where my son and my other two apprentices are going to be going through their trials."

"Trials? But they're so young! Why are they going through their trials so young?" Aayla asked in confusion.

Master Nox sighed, "Revan, yes _the_ Revan, paid me a visit recently, shortly after the purge. This trip was directed by Revan, who, as you saw in my memory, is being directed by the Force. You don't say no to things like that out of hand."

* * *

Standing on the bridge of the Ashara, Nox watched as Aela skillfully pilot the ship into orbit around the planet of Odessen. "Here we are." Aela said, leaning back from the controls. "Are you sure this is it?"

"I'm sure." Nox replied as she opened herself up to the Force.

The world before them felt so…balanced. A perfect blending of both the light and the dark side of the Force. Almost more so than even Earth. 'It's no wonder the Force has sent us here.'

"Alright then, beginning decent into the atmosphere." Aela nodded as the ship dipped down into the atmosphere. "So where exactly am I heading?"

Sitting down in the copilot's seat, Nox took control of the ship and closed her eyes, allowing the Force to guide her actions. Nearly twenty minutes later, Nox felt a pulse in the Force as she flew them over a large tree filled valley that was perhaps fifty kilometers or more wide and surrounded on three sides by mountain ranges. "Hover us around in a tight circle maybe fifty meters or so off the ground above this valley. After we send the kids off head for that ridge right over there and set up camp until they return."

"Will do." Aela nodded as Nox stood back up and made her way towards the back of the ship.

As Nox made her way through the ship she could hear voice getting steadily louder. Stopping just outside of the cargo hold, Nox peeked inside. Just about everyone save for Aela and herself were in the hold. In the center of which stood Harry, Daphne and Susan. Harry was currently standing with Ginny, Ahsoka, Hermione, Luna and Ron while Kento talked to the lot of them and Nat hung onto Harry's side.

Next to them were Susan, Hannah, Tonks and Mallie who was no doubt trying to give some last minute pointers to Susan. And next to them were Daphne, Tracey, Astoria, Remus and Aayla. Amusingly enough, Astoria had the same type of hold on her sister as Nat did with Harry.

All conversation ceased as Nox stepped into the hold. "We're here." She said looking over her three apprentices.

Per tradition of the Sith, and the Jedi as far as she knew, all three were dressed in a simple tunic and they carried only their wand's and lightsabers. They were not allowed to take any food or water with them. They would have to rely on the Force and their own ingenuity in order to survive.

"We've arrived." Nox said, trying to keep her voice as even as possible. "From here on out you three will be on your own. Stretch out your feelings. Allow the Force to guide you and you will be guided to your trials. Succeed, and return to us as full-fledged Knights of the Guardians."

"Yes Master." Harry, Daphne and Susan said as one.

"Good. Now come, it's time to begin."

Walking past them group, Nox watched as her three apprentices said farewell to their friends and family before turning to follow her. Nox had to hide a slight smile as Ahsoka wished Harry luck, which caused her son's ears to turn slightly red. 'Well…like mother like son I guess.'

Leading her apprentices to the closed boarding ramp, she had the three of them stand near the bottom before stepping back from them. "May the Force be with you." She said before activating the ramp.

All three had just barely enough time to realize that they were not yet on the ground before Nox sent them all out of the ship with a slight Force push.

Tonks walked up behind Nox as the ramp closed. "You threw them out of the ship…while it was still airborne didn't you?"

Nox turned to face Tonks with a wry smile, "Why yes, yes I did, be glad you aren't going to go through the same thing they will be."

Nox returned to the hold to address the remaining members of the ship. "While our three students are enjoying the hospitality of this planet we're parking on a ridge overlooking the valley they were…dropped off at." Nox smirked at the wide eyed reaction to hearing how she deposited her charges. "While it would be nice to stay onboard while during their trials we will be setting up a small camp so we can take advantage of the planet for more practical Force studies. So get those tents ready to be moved."

* * *

Kneeling down at the tunnels entrance, Daphne pulled out her wand and conjured a small sphere of light before sending it into the cave. Ever since she left the ship over a week ago now, she'd been following a strange pulse in the Force. A pulse that seemed to emanating from this cave. It'd only been less than two weeks since Master Nox, quite literally, kicked the three of them out of the ship to begin their trials. But those two weeks felt like months. There was little to nothing to eat. Drinkable water, despite this being a world similar to Earth, was actually fairly hard to find. So she'd been forced to rely on the Force to provide her with what she needed. Which was the point she assumed.

As her light disappeared around a bend within the cave, Daphne drew out her saberstaff and held it off to her side before entering after her conjured light. The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever as she followed the light deeper and deeper into the ground. After what seemed like an eternity, the tunnel she was following evened out and expanded into a vast cavern littered with gem stones. "Beautiful." She whispered to herself as she guided her light higher into the cavern.

"It is, isn't it?"

Spinning around, Daphne activated one-half of her saber staff, and found nothing behind her. "Hahaha, you didn't actually think it would be that easy did you?"

Turning in a slow circle, Daphne tried to find the source of the voice. But no matter where she looked all she saw was more of the cavern. "Show yourself!"

"I'm right here."

Spinning around, Daphne brought her saberstaff around ready to attack. But completely faltered once she saw who was standing behind her.

"Hahaha, what's wrong Daphne? I think we look good."

Standing behind her was an actual walking, talking, mirror image of herself. Only…not. Her mirror image's skin was paper white, her blond hair was completely disheveled and she had pitch black rings around her eyes. But the most striking difference were their eyes. Her blue eyes were gone and in their place were a set of hauntingly golden eyes. "Who are you?"

"Who am I?" Her copy laughed, a cracking noise that made Daphne wince. "Who am I she asks. Your confusion is so…intoxicating. Hehe. Can't you tell yet you stupid bitch? I'm you! Or rather…the you as you should be. Everything you fear yourself to be. Unrestrained. Free."

"You're nothing more than an abomination." Daphne hissed as she pointed her lightsaber towards the creature.

Quick as a flash, the creature drew a saberstaff that was identical to the one in Daphne's hand. As the two blue blades clashed against one another, the creature smirked. "An abomination? No. You are the abomination! You are the one holding us back! We could be so much more! We could overthrow Nox! We could take whatever we wanted! But no…you have to be the good little apprentice and do whatever that bitch says!"

Jumping up, the creature flipped over Daphne's head while striking down. Daphne managed to roll just in time to feel the heat of the saberstaff pass over her head. Rolling back to her feet she activated the other half of her saberstaff before twirling it over her head and bringing it down hard.

The creature mimicked her by rolling out of the way and fully activating her own saberstaff before locking blades with Daphne. "You're not listening Daphne. I. Am. You. I know all of your moves. You have no chance against me."

Dancing away, Daphne held her staff in a low guard. "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" The shade laughed. "I want a lot of things. I want to experience everything! I want to feel everything! I want that bitch that stifled my growth to suffer and die! And I want control of our body!"

Blocking high, Daphne brought the back end of her staff around aiming for the shade's head only to have her strike blocked as well. Backpedaling, Daphne brought her wand forth and shot off a string of hexes and curses at the shade. Each of which were batted aside. And then it was Daphne's turn to go on the defensive as the shade fired off a string of her own hexes and curses.

Deactivating her sabersataff, Daphne jumped up on to a plateau within the cavern before using the Force to hurl nearly a dozen fist sized rocks at the shade. All of which the shade managed to avoid before destroying the small plateau that Daphne was standing on with a powerful blasting curse.

On and on their fight went. Every spell Daphne threw was blocked or batted away. Every move she made was countered perfectly. Every strike with her saberstaff was blocked and countered. No matter what she did the shade managed to match her step for step. And while Daphne was able to return the favor in kind, there was one big difference between the two of them. And that was that Daphne was getting tired. And the shade wasn't.

Receiving a backhand to the side of her head, Daphne went down to the ground hard as she felt blood pool within her mouth. The shade didn't waste a second. Before Daphne could even get up to her hands and knees the shade kicked her in the side before sending her rolled across the cavern with a powerful Force push.

"Pff. Pathetic Daphne. Really, really pathetic." The shade sighed as Daphne struggled to get back up to her feet. "You're fear is giving me more and more power. Why don't we just end this pointless fight and you just stay down like a good little girl and let me take over from here on out."

Something in the shade's words made Daphne pause. 'She keeps saying I'm afraid. And that she's me…could…could it be that simple?'

Rising back up to her feet, Daphne held her saberstaff across her body. "As long as I draw breath shade…I will never let you win."

"Brave sentiment." The shade smirked as she drew back and made to strike. "But in the end…useless. Now die bitch."

Daphne watched as the tip of the shade's saberstaff approached her almost as if in slow motion. But instead of blocking it, Daphne deactivated her own saberstaff and let the lunge pierce her through the chest.

"What?" The shade gasped staring up at her.

It was more than slightly surreal, staring down at a lightsaber piercing through her chest yet feeling no pain. Not even the heat of the blade. Reaching out, Daphne wrapped her hands around the shade's hands. "You said it yourself." Daphne said leaning forward. "You are me. And because of that, as long as I don't fear you…you can't hurt me."

The saberstaff deactivated as Daphne roughly pulled it from the shade's grasp before throwing it off into the darkness. "You're my power." Daphne said as she took a step forward, making the shade take a step back. "I've feared you ever since I first learned of your existence. But fighting you just now made me realize something. That fear was giving you power. Power that you would one day use to take over me. You're a part of me that I must accept."

As the shade's back hit the wall of the cavern, Daphne quickly reached and wrapped her hand around the shade's neck, pinning her to the wall. "I will use you." Daphne continued as she held onto the representation of her power. "I will control you. But above all else…I will not fear you. Now return to where you belong."

The shade stared at her with wide eyes, no doubt trying to find some sort of crack in Daphne. But there was none to be found. Daphne would no longer fear her power. She would embrace it. With a slow smile forming across her face, the shade slowly disappeared until Daphne was left holding nothing but air.

 _ **"Well done, Daphne Greengrass."**_

Turning around, Daphne felt her eyes widen. Behind her stood an elderly looking semi-transparent and lightly glowing woman. "Grandmaster Satele Shan." Daphne bowed her head out of respect.

The ghost of the former Grandmaster of the Jedi Order merely smiled and nodded at her. " _ **You have passed your test Daphne. Tell me though…do you understand the true meaning of this test?"**_

"I believe so Master." Daphne answered. "I must not fear the power that is within me. Fearing it will only create a rift within me that will eventually end up destroying me."

 _ **"Yes."**_ Master Shan nodded. _ **"Master Nox has told you of the other who possessed the same power as you."**_

"Yes." Daphne nodded. "Her power consumed her."

Nodding, Master Shan motioned for Daphne to walk with her, which she did without hesitation. _**"Yes. For so long the she was constantly told to be wary of her powers. Slowly that turned into fear. That fear created a rift within her. A rift that Azcarin was able to tear into with hardly any effort which allowed him to corrupt her. But have no fear. For that shall not be your fate. For where she failed, you succeeded."**_

"Master?"

Stopping, Master Shan turned back to Daphne. "Jeasa was given this same test within the deserts of Tatooine. She failed this test. You succeeded." Waving her hand, a small gem on the rock formation in front of them began to glow brightly. "Take it."

Squinting against the bright light, Daphne reached out towards the glowing gem. The light suddenly died as she felt something small press itself into her palm. Turning her hand over she blinked at what she was holding. "A white kyber crystal?"

"A gift from the Force, Daphne." Master Shan said as she took a step back, her form slowly starting to disappear. "Return now to your Master. Whole. And a Knight of the Guardians."

* * *

Running through the deserted halls of her family's ancestral home, Susan had only one thought on her mind. She had to find her aunt before the Death Eaters could. Susan wasn't sure just how they did it…but Voldemort and his lackeys had found a way past the centuries worth of defensive wards that'd kept the Bones family safe for generations. ' _Please Auntie…please be alight. I – I can't lose you too!'_

Shouldering her way through the door to the dining hall, Susan's feet slid against the finely polished floor as she slid to a stop. There…upside down from the rafters over the table was her Aunt. Her throat cut open raggedly. "No!" Susan cried as she sunk to her knees. "No…not you too Auntie."

Clenching her fists tight, Susan lashed out with the Force destroying whatever she could see as she shouted at the top of her lungs. "When will it be enough!?" She shouted out as the debris from her rampage began circling around her. "My mother…my father! My unborn sibling! My grandparents. Harry. Daphne. When will you stop taking everything I love from me!"

Unbeknownst to Susan, as she raged and raged a single dark figure slowly made its way out of the shadows and through the maelstrom of debris. "Such a waste."

Eyes widening, Susan spun around and activated her lightsaber ready to cut the fiend in half. Only to have her body paralyzed before she could make it all the way around. "Tsk tsk…that wasn't very polite Madam Bones." Lord Voldemort chided as he put his wand away and stepped past her. "Such a waste. Your aunt was a witch of incredible power."

"What do you care?" Susan growled as she fought against the spell that was holding her in place. "You're the one that killed her!"

"Oh, and did you see me did this then?" Voldemort asked her. "No. I did not kill her. Nor did I have any such desires to see her dead."

"You lie!" Susan yelled, renewing her struggles against the invisible bonds holding her. "She stood against you!"

"And that was a sin I was willing to forgive." Voldemort shrugged. "You and your aunt were the last two of the Bones family. One of last Ancient and Noble families in Britain. I would've excused your aunt and you for your transgressions against me once I've finished dealing with the Usurper Nox and the brat Potter."

"I am part of that group as well Voldemort." Susan growled, her anger spiking at the casual way Voldemort was talking to her. "I am a Guardian as well!"

"Yes…I had heard that." Voldemort nodded before turning his back on her dead aunt. With a flick of his wand Susan felt herself floating up into the air and after him as he walked. "But tell me Madam Bones…why do you give your loyalty to them? You're always being pushed to the back…never allowed to stand out as Harry and Daphne take center stage. Nox never acknowledges your power or skills. So tell me…why do you submit yourself to those who do not care nor respect you?"

With each word, Susan felt something inside of her twist. It was true…but…no. Harry and Daphne might leave her behind sometimes…but they always came back for her. Didn't they? And Master Nox she…wait…she couldn't actually remember the last time her Master actually truly acknowledge her power or skill. All of her praise always went to either Harry or Daphne. But hardly ever to her.

"Where are you taking me?" Susan growled as she tried to push his words out of her head.

"Somewhere where your skills will be appreciated." Voldemort answered critically as he led her out into the main foyer. Within there were maybe two dozen figures in black cloaks standing in a circle around three individuals that were bound and kneeling in the middle of the room.

"These three are all that remain of the ones that came and attacked your aunt without my permission." Voldemort said lowering her to the ground.

Seeing them, Susan's hand holding onto her lightsaber twitched. "And?"

"And," Voldemort smile as he wave his wand at her again making the invisible binds around her disappear. "I'm giving them to you to punish. Because unlike Nox. I appreciate your power and skill."

Staring at the three men kneeling on the floor for a moment she cast a weary glance towards Voldemort. "What's the catch?"

"No catch my dear." Voldemort smiled.

Feeling a fire in her gut, Susan marched away from the Dark Lord and up to the first man. The man looked up at her with pleading eyes, which only enraged her further. Screaming at the top of her lungs she brought her lightsaber across her body in a vicious slash and removed the man's head from his body.

"Good." Voldemort cheered as Susan drew several ragged breaths. "But it was…a little quick. Nox must've taught you something on how to inflict pain. Why don't you make these man scream? After all…they raped and murdered your aunt. They deserve this fate."

Voldemort's words fanned the flames within her. He was right. These men tortured…raped…and killed her aunt. They didn't deserve the mercy of a quick death. Putting her lightsaber away, she brought her hands down and summoned a bout of Force lightning.

The man's screams only egged Susan on further. She wanted this man to scream. She wanted him to beg for mercy. She wanted to hear him beg for death. Neither of which she was intending on doing. At least not yet.

"Good, good!" Voldemort laughed as Susan let up on her attacks. She'd been at it for only Merlin knew how long. Both men, while still alive, were little more than twitching burnt piles of flesh. "But…here is a true punishment. Bring them."

Off to one side, several Death Eaters stepped apart from one another. From the gap they created two more Death Eaters came forth, each of them leading a small child. "These children belong to these two fools." Voldemort said nodding to the kids then to the two men withering on the ground.

Staring at the children, Susan still felt her thirst for blood and tears start to falter. "And?"

"And? And what better way to punish a parent than to kill their children in front of them." Voldemort smiled stepping up beside her. "I can feel your anger and hatred Susan. Unleash it upon these two. Make them suffer like you have suffered."

Smiling, Susan activated her lightsaber and brought it up ready to strike down the two kids. Voldemort was right. She was enjoying this. Hearing the screams of the men…their sudden cries for mercy as they saw her intent. It was all…intoxicating! She loved it! She wanted more. But as she brought her lightsaber above her head…her hands started to shake. _'What are you doing Susan? Stop this now! This isn't you! This isn't the woman that your Aunt would want you to be!'_

"No!" Susan screamed as she brought her lightsaber around aiming for Voldemort's neck. But the man proved to be far more nimble than she ever expected and daftly dodged her attack.

"Hmm…it seems you truly are a disappointment Madam Bones." Voldemort said evenly. "You are so close to achieving power beyond your wildest dreams. Just like mine."

"No." Susan growled, holding her lightsaber in a high guard. "I am nothing like you! I will never be like you!"

Smiling, Voldemort idly stroked his wand. "Hmm, such fire. Such passion. But little in the way of brains it appears. You still don't fully realize the situation you're in my dear." With a snap of his fingers, every cloaked Death Eater in the room drew their wands and pointed them at her. "Either you kill the brats and their parents, who are responsible for your aunt's death and then bow to me…or you die with them."

Looking over her shoulder, Susan glanced at the kids huddled next to their parents. Closing her eyes, Susan let her lightsaber fall slightly. "I…will never bow to you!"

Throwing her lightsaber, the blade spun through the air killing two Death Eaters before arching back around towards her outstretched hand. Jumping up into the air, she felt the hilt come back into her hand and she screamed as she brought her blade down towards Voldemort…only to be thrown backwards as no less than a dozen sickly green spells struck her and threw her through the air like a rag doll.

And then she was rolling across a rough rock floor in a dimly lit cave. "What?" Susan breathed, looking around and feeling her body for any marks. "How…I don't understand."

 _ **"That was your trial Susan Bones."**_

Susan just barely managed to stifle her gasp as a man wearing red and black spiked armor and standing nearly as tall as Hagrid appeared before her. "Darth Marr." Susan breathed staring up at the man, whose holocron she'd spent weeks upon weeks studying. "You're Darth Marr."

" _ **Yes**_." The former Dark Lord of the Sith answered.

Smiling at the prospect at meeting the man she'd been learning from for so long, her good mood quickly evaporated as she realized just what he'd just said. "That…that was my trial?" She asked rhetorically while lowering her head. "Then I guess that I failed."

 _ **"And why do you think that?"**_

"Because I fell!" Susan shouted. "I–I tortured those men. And I–I loved it."

 _ **"Your test was not to see if you could resist the pull of the dark side young one."**_ Darth Marr said shocking her. _ **"Your test was to see if you were able to pull yourself out of the abyss of the dark side after having fallen into it. And you did. You passed the test set upon you by the Force."**_

"I–I passed." Susan breathed, still not fully comprehending. Despite what she did…she still passed.

 _ **"Yes."**_ Darth Marr nodded before waving his hand off to the side. A small yellow light began glowing on a small rock outcropping next to them. _ **"A gift from the Force. Take it and place it within my lightsaber along with its existing crystal. Make the weapon truly your own."**_

Stepping forward, Susan reached out and picked up the softly glowing yellow crystal. "Thank you…Master Marr."

* * *

Falling to his knees, Harry gasped desperately for breath as he crawled his way through the rubble that was once Hogwarts. The siege of the great castle by Voldemort and his followers had been brutal and precise. The Slytherin students that had supported Voldemort had created a portal of some kind that allowed the Dark Lord to easily bypass the wards that'd stood since the castle's creation.

The students had been caught completely by surprise. The first ones to even realize the Voldemort had breached the castle was a class of first year students that were making their way down into the dungeons for potions. Harry had briefly seen the aftermath of that scuffle. It'd been a slaughter. None of the first years had even managed to get their wands out before they were cut to pieces; literally in some cases.

Hearing laughter and cries of mercy coming a room off to his right, Harry forced himself up off the ground and drew forth his lightsaber and wand before running as fast as he could into the room. The old classroom had been destroyed. A group of five Death Eaters were all standing in a circle around a spasming Ginny who was crying out in agony.

Screaming in fury, Harry threw a powerful cutting curse at the nearest Death Eater and taking his head off. He then threw his lightsaber threw the chest of the second before calling it back with the Force. By the time the remaining Death Eaters even realized he was there, he'd closed the distance between them and cut down one with his lightsaber, removed the head of the second with a cutting curse and banished the third out of the window.

With the immediate threats neutralized, Harry stumbled his way over to Ginny and fell to his knees. "Oh Merlin…Ginny." He reached out for her, but before he could touch her he felt something snap in the Force. His bond with her was gone.

Placing a shaking hand on her forehead, he carefully closed her eyes before grabbing her lightsaber. "Rest in peace…my apprentice."

Pushing himself back to his feet, Harry forced himself to put one foot in front of the other and move out of the classroom and out of the hall. He had no idea how long he walked through the ruins for. But with each step he took he was forced to face another heartbreaking sight. In one room he found Ron and Hermione laying side by side, their eyes staring up blankly at the ceiling. In another he found Susan and Daphne…or at least what was left of them. Remus. Aela. Sirius. Amelia. Aayla. Tonks. Hannah. Tracey. Astoria. Ahsoka. Kento. Mallie. Even little Nat. Everyone who was already at the castle or everyone who answered his mother's call were dead.

Falling down the last few steps of the Grand Staircase, Harry pushed himself up and managed to force his weary legs to take him outside – just in time to watch as his mother was cut down by Voldemort.

"Ah…Harry Potter…the boy who lived." Voldemort smiled as the two dozen Death Eaters surrounding him on either side watched on silently. "The boy who is now alone."

Harry didn't even hear what Voldemort said. His eyes were focused solely on his mother staring blankly up at the sky. _'No…it isn't possible._ ' He breathed as he suddenly found the strength to spring towards his mother. _'She – she can't be dead!_ '

Sliding to his knees, Harry gently picked his mother up by her shoulders. "Mother." He cried as tears started to fall freely from his eyes. "Mother…say something. Please…"

But even as he begged, he knew it was useless. She was gone. Her Force presence was gone. Hearing the crunching of gravel, Harry slashed his arm backwards. The Death Eater who'd been approaching him managed to give off a single terrified scream before his head snapped back as his neck broke.

"Haha…so powerful Harry. It is no wonder that you were prophesied to defeat me."

Snarling, Harry let his mother down gently before whipping his wand around ready to end Voldemort. A red spell hit Harry directly in the chest sending him cartwheeling backwards as his wand was roughly pulled form his grip. By the time he managed to right himself, Voldemort was idly inspecting his wand with a disinterested look. "Hmm…so our wands are brothers Harry Potter. How ironic that you and I would share a bond such as this."

Rolling himself over, Harry managed to just barely push himself to his feet. "What of it Voldemort?"

Sighing, Voldemort tucked Harry's wand into the sleeve of his robe. "Ah Harry…still so willing to fight…even when the battle is long over. But there is no need for us to fight Harry. Join me…and we can change the world."

Harry felt like laughing. "Is that the same offer you made my parents? The same off that you made my mother?"

"Yes it is." Voldemort shrugged. "And what of it? I meant it too. Your parents, your mother. They were all powerful and would've had a place of honor amongst my ranks. Don't make the same mistake they did Harry."

"Mistake?" Harry growled, palming both his and Ginny's lightsabers. "They didn't make a mistake. The only mistake would be agreeing to be your slave. You've taken everything from me Voldemort. There is nothing left that you can offer me."

"Oh, don't be so sure of yourself young Harry." Voldemort smiled raising a single finger into the air. "There is still much that I can offer you. Just watch."

Pointing his wand towards the Death Eater that Harry had just killed, Harry felt a wave pulse through the Force as both the wand and the corpse glowed blue. The Death Eater's neck snapped loudly back into place. And as the blue light faded from his body, the Death Eater's eyes opened once again and he rose to his feet.

"Don't you see Harry?" Voldemort asked. "I have conquered death itself. You want your mother back? Done. You want your parents back? Done. You want a harem of witches to serve at your every whim? Done. All you need to do, is bend knee to me and take your place at my side. And together…we will conquer the world!"

Both lightsaber's dropped from his hands. He could have his parents back. He could have his mother back! He could have all of his friends back! Sure he would have to bend knee to Voldemort…but he could always bide his time. Learn what he could from the man and kill him later!

Harry started to kneel, nothing more than a slight shifting of his weight, when a memory struck him. It was of him and his mother as they trained while he was still but a child. " _Listen well Harry."_ His mother had told him. _"Death is a frightening prospect. But…you must not let your fear and hatred of death consume you. For there is one ultimate truth to the universe. And that is that nothing last forever. Mourn for those who die. Miss them. But do not let your grief consume you. For those who have died will have joined with the Force. So in the end…there truly is no death. There is only the Force."_

With a jolt, Harry froze in place. "You would bring them back…but in what capacity?"

Opening his hands, he summoned both lightsabers back to him and activated them. "My parents fought against you. My mother fought against you. My friends fought against you. I will not tarnish their memory by submitting to you!"

Voldemort snarled at him before turning his back on him. "So be it. Death Eaters. Teach this boy what happens to those who defy me. But do not kill him. After he is properly punished…I shall give him one last chance."

Spinning both blades around, Harry danced to the side as a dark red jet passed him by. Swinging low then high, Harry managed to cut down two Death Eaters before he flipped backwards and used his lightsabers to deflect two yellow jets away from him. Landing on his feet, he instantly rolled to the side before bringing both blades up in an arc cutting a Death Eater in two.

Sliding back, Harry kept his lightsabers in constant motion as he deflected away any spell that came close to him. But soon enough the onslaught became too much from him and a spell got past his guard and struck him in the shoulder. Then another hit him in the back. Then another hit him in the chest. Only this one, unlike the other's which only cause shallow cuts, caused him more pain than he ever thought possible. Once the spell lifted he found himself on his back and unable to move.

Just as he started to lift his left hand, a red streak pierced through his wrist severing his hand from the rest of his body. "Do you understand now Harry?" Voldemort asked as he stood over Harry's twitching body. "You never stood a chance against me. Now take my offer. Join me. And I will end all of this and restore that which you have lost."

Groaning with the effort, Harry somehow managed to rise to his feet. "There is no dark side nor a light side. There is only the Force." Spreading his feet, he activated his lightsaber and held it before his eyes. "I will do what I must to keep the balance. The balance is what sustains me. There is no good without evil, but evil must not be allowed to flourish. There is passion, yet peace. Serenity, yet emotion. Chaos, yet order. I am the wielder of the flame, the protector of balance. I am the holder of the torch lighting the way. I am the keeper of the flame, the soldier of balance. I am a guardian of balance. I. Am. A. Guardian!"

Finishing the code, Harry glared at Voldemort. "By this code…I will never let you win!"

Snarling, Voldemort raised his wand. "Very well! Die as a fool! _Avada Kedavra_!"

Harry caught the green light of the killing curse against his lightsaber. The spell didn't deflect back, but nor did it instantly cut through the lightsaber. Instead the two merely impacted against one another creating a bridge between Harry and Voldemort. Moving one foot forward, Harry began the excruciating march towards the man who'd taken everything from him. With less than ten feet between the two of them he heard the hilt of his lightsaber crack. At five feet the lightsaber shattered into countless pieces. He wasn't quite sure just how he did it, but Harry's anger and desperation gave him enough power in the Force to catch the deadly spell before it could touch his skin.

At less than a foot separating the two, Harry could see the wrinkles on Voldemort's face. And the fear. "This–this is not possible!"

Pushing his hand outwards, Harry brought the spell almost all the way back to the wand it'd been cast from. "With the Force…nothing is impossible." Harry said staring Voldemort right in the eye. "It's time to finish this Voldemort." And with that he pushed the spell the last crucial inch back towards the wand.

The green light of the killing curse detonated, sending a shockwave of killing energy outwards. Harry felt the cursed light wash over him as his body flew backwards – and then it was gone and he hit the ground hard.

Gasping and trying to get the air back into his lungs, Harry quickly rolled over and sprung up to his feet. ' _What? What's…where? This cave…'_

Then it all started to come back to him. His mother pushing Daphne, Susan and himself out of the Ashara. Meditating alone in the forest, trying to find some glimmer as to where he was supposed to go. Of having to rely on the Force to sustain him as he tried and failed to find anything to eat or drink. Finding the slight pulse in the Force that he ended up following for days before he came across what was obviously a man-made cavern in the side of one of the mountains that surrounded the valley. _'I entered the cave and then…then I was at Hogwarts. None of that was real.'_

 _ **"No. At least not entirely."**_ A voice spoke behind him.

Snapping his wand into his hand, Harry spun around – and found himself face to face with a ghost. The ghost was wearing black robes and his face was covered with scars. Even though Harry had never even seen this man, he knew who he was without a shadow of a doubt. "Revan." Harry breathed lowering his wand.

 _ **"Yes."**_ The ghost of Revan nodded.

Putting his wand away, Harry looked around the cave. "What…what was that? A vision of the future?"

 _ **"Possibly."**_ Revan shrugged.

"What do you mean by that?"

 _ **"One thing that you will learn in time Harry, is that there is only one thing certain about the future. And that is uncertainty."**_ Revan smiled as he sat down on a nearby rock before motioning for Harry to join him. _**"In that future you fought and lost against this Dark Lord. In another you won. Yet in another you become the Dark Lord. Or in yet another you became a beacon of light that struck down anything with even the slightest bit of darkness. Or in another you sacrifice your life so that everyone might live. The future has infinite possibilities Harry."**_

"It felt so real." Harry murmured rubbing his left hand. The same one that he could've sworn had been cut off just moments before. "But why show me that future?"

 _ **"Honestly, I don't know. It wasn't my choice. It was the Force itself that was testing you Harry. And while most of it was an illusion, some aspects of it were very real."**_ Revan said pointing off to the side.

Following where he was pointing, Harry's heart dropped to his stomach as he stood up and rushed over to the spot. "Oh no." He whispered as he fell to his knees. His lightsaber was laying on the ground in no less than a dozen pieces. "I failed…"

 _ **"No, you didn't fail Harry."**_ Revan said coming up beside him. _**"You did exactly as the Force willed. I knew the moment that your mother awoke that one day my lightsaber would break. Just as I knew that it would one day be reforged. And like the phoenix of your world, it would rise again stronger than ever before."**_

Carefully picking up the pieces of his lightsaber, Harry turned towards the ghost. "But…how am I supposed to reforge it?"

 _ **"Come."**_ Revan beckoned as he started floating away. _**"I will show you."**_

Following Revan through cave, the two walked in silence until they came to an area of the cave that was open to the night sky. Green grass filled the small moon light spot. And in the center of the grass stood a strange stone dais with an altar of some sort sitting on its pinnacle.

 _ **"This is a lightsaber forge Harry. One of the few true forges remaining in the galaxy."**_ Revan explained as Harry stepped past him. _**"Climb its steps and place the pieces of my lightsaber upon the forge. And upon its surface you will find another gift from the Force. There are other pieces there as well from those who have journeyed here yet failed their tests. Once you are ready, mediate deeply on the Force and it will guide your creation of a new lightsaber."**_

Taking a steadying breath, Harry marched up the dais towards the altar at the top. He looked back only once, and discovered that the ghost of Revan was gone. Once he reached the forge, he stared at the gift the Force had granted him. It was a kyber crystal. A pitch black kyber crystal.

Setting the pieces of his broken lightsaber down on the forge next to the black crystal, Harry sunk to his knees and closed his eyes. _'There is no dark side nor a light side. There is only the Force. I will do what I must to keep the balance. The balance is what sustains me. There is no good without evil, but evil must not be allowed to flourish. There is passion, yet peace. Serenity, yet emotion. Chaos, yet order. I am the wielder of the flame, the protector of balance. I am the holder of the torch lighting the way. I am the keeper of the flame, the soldier of balance. I am a guardian of balance.'_

Repeating the code of the guardians like a mantra, Harry sunk into a deep state of meditation before the forge. The outside world faded away as he sunk deeper and deeper into his force meditation. Slowly, Harry felt as the broken pieces of his lightsaber, and the pieces belonging to those who'd failed, slowly rose above the surface of the altar. Surrendering himself completely to the will of the Force, Harry felt as his old lightsaber was taken apart and reforged. The old purple kyber crystal was nestled at the top of the hilt along with the black crystal before being incased on all sides by the hilt of his new lightsaber.

Harry wasn't sure just how long he'd been kneeling there before the forge, but when he heard the thud of his new lightsaber hitting the altar and he opened his eyes he saw that instead of being cast in the light of the moon, the forge was surrounded by the soft glow of dying light.

 _'Well…at least I know at least one day has passed by so far.'_ Grimacing only slightly as his knees cracked and popped in protest, Harry rose to his feet and inspected the new blade before him. The handle was at least a hand's width longer than before. Decorative markings, much like Daphne's saberstaff, ran along its length as well. Instead of a single blade emitter, his new lightsaber had three. One on top and one more on either side creating a cross guard hilt.

Picking up his lightsaber, Harry ran his fingers all around it looking for any imperfections. Finding none, he held it off to the side and activated it. His once normal purple blade sprung to life, but now it was surrounded by a black coloring that darkened the light of the blade considerably. The two emitters on the sides of the primary emitter came to life as a pair of three or four inch blades emerged from each.

 _'A cross guard hilt.'_ Harry breathed as he moved his lightsaber around experimentally. _'This lightsaber…it feels so right. Almost like the first time I held my wand.'_

 _ **"Because it is the blade that you were always meant to wield Harry Potter."**_

Deactivating the blade, Harry walked down the dais. "Thank you Revan."

At the bottom of the dais, Revan waved him off. _**"No need to thank me Harry. You will succeed where I have failed. You will lead a new order of Force sensitive that are both Sith and Jedi. Now come…there is one last trial ahead of you. Or rather…there is someone who wishes to speak with you."**_

Following after him, Revan led Harry away from the forge and through a maze of tunnels. For nearly an hour the two continued on in silence until Harry felt a cool breeze across his face. "Who is it that wants to speak with me?" Harry asked as the two of them exited the tunnel.

Just beyond the tunnels exit was a large crystal clear lake. Small glowing lights, which belonged to an avian creature native to this planet, danced along the lakes surface. And silhouetted by the moon light was an elderly human looking man standing by the lake side with his back turned to them both.

 _ **"He is known simply as Father."**_ Revan said before turning towards him and placing his hand against Harry's chest. _**"This is where we part ways young Harry. But just know…I will always be here when you have the greatest need for me."**_

Harry wasn't even able to say goodbye before the ghost of Revan took a step back from him and faded into nothingness. Turning his attention to the figure at the lake, Harry made his way down towards the water. "You have finally arrived Chosen One." The old man said when Harry was still a dozen paces from him.

When he turned around Harry felt himself freeze involuntarily. The man looked older than Dumbledore. But somehow…far more refined and elegant. And his eyes…they were completely pitch black save for his iris's which were a vibrant green. But what truly made Harry stop was the power that was emanating off the old man. Even if everyone on board the Ashara, including his mother and all of the Jedi, combined their power they probably wouldn't even come close to this man's level.

Blinking, Harry could do little more than just stare at the old man. "Who are you?" He finally managed to ask after several long moments of silence. "And why did you call me 'Chosen one'?"

The old man stared at him for a moment long before turning and walking away, forcing Harry to half jog in order to keep up with him. "I am called Father." The old man said as Harry drew level with him. "And I called you the Chosen One because that is who you are. You are the Chosen One. One of two that could bring true balance to the Force."

"And who's the other one?" Harry asked, pushing himself to keep even with Father.

"The other was the One. The One born of power. Born of the Force." Father answered cryptically before stopping and turning so he was once again facing the calm waters. "For so long I awaited the birth of either of you. When I finally sensed the birth of the One, I thought my long struggle of keeping my Daughter and Son in check was finally at an end. But in my haste I made far too many mistakes. And in the end I paid the greatest price a Father could ever pay and had to watch as my Daughter was killed…followed by myself and then my Son."

"Wait…you're dead?" Harry asked, the revelation shocking him. "You don't…you don't look like a Force ghost. Like Revan did. You seem…solid."

"The Force is full of many mysteries young man." Father answered. "Even the wisest among you have barely even managed to scratch the surface of what the Force can truly do. Even I, with my millennia's worth of knowledge, understand only a fraction of that which you call the Force."

Kneeling down at the water's edge, Harry cupped his hands together so he could take a much needed drink from the lake. "So why have you come before me? Not that I'm honored…but I'm sure there are other's you could've gone too."

The old man stayed silent for a moment before holding out his hand. Wisps of smoke rose from the palm of his hand and solidified into an image of a large man covered head to toe in black armor. "The One has fallen. And with his fall the delicate balance of the Force has been destroyed. There is a chance that he could still be redeemed…but as it stands you will have to face him in time. But right now…neither you nor your mother has the raw power needed to stand against him alone."

The smoky image disappeared from the man's palm. "If he stands against us and the balance of the Force then we will defeat him."

"Perhaps," the old man mused while idly stroking his long beard. "But now we come to why I am here."

Rising to his feet, Harry whipped the excess water off of his hands. "And why have you come?"

Taking another step towards the water the old man raised his head skywards and stared at the morning sky. "When the One was with my children and I on Mortis, I removed certain knowledge from his mind before I fell. I thought I was doing the right thing…but now I realize how arrogant I was. I didn't realize that everything that happened was the will of the Force…if he had retained the knowledge of the possible future that was granted to him…perhaps he wouldn't have fallen. I don't know. But I intend to try and correct my mistake now. If you cannot match the One in terms of sheer power…then in order to match him your knowledge of the Force must be far greater than his."

Harry felt his entire body stiffen as the old man raised his hands towards him and he floated up off the ground. "W–What are you-"

"I will not grant you all of my knowledge." The old man said, completely ignoring Harry's struggled cries. "The mortal mind cannot handle all that I know. And what I give you will be released only incriminates over time. But when the time comes…you will be more than a match for the One…and for the one who corrupted him."

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was a soundless scream as he felt his mental barriers not being destroyed…but being completely bypassed as if they had a back door in them that only the old man knew about. Then there were flashes in his mind. Thoughts…equations…emotions…spells…things he'd never even considered before flashed through his mind faster than he could process them.

The thoughts just kept pouring in piece by piece. Just as he thought he couldn't take any more and was about to beg for it to stop, the flashes stopped and he felt his body fall limply to the ground. "Use my knowledge well Harry Potter." He heard the old man say even though he couldn't turn his head to see him. "Use it to correct the mistake I have made…and may you truly bring balance to the Force."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey there everyone! Back for another chapter.**

 **Now before we begin, I want to address two issues that came up in the last chapter. Honestly I wasn't expecting such negative feedback over these two things, so I just want to clear the air here. Also, I apologize for not responding to reviews this time. I was just way too freaking busy this week...the only reason I got this chapter done in time was because I had a good head start on it.  
**

 **Harry's lightsaber: This lightsaber will be explained in further detail later in this chapter, and this is not a reaction of the reviews of the last chapter. What I describe is what I had always planned on doing. Now saying that, Harry's cross guard lightsaber is not the same as Kylo Ren's. (Begin geek rant) The side emitters on Kylo's lightsaber were necessary because his kyber crystal was cracked. Therefore, the excess energy was diverted out the sides instead of overloading the primary emitter. Harry's kyber crystals (black-purple), were never cracked. So the side emitters are not there to act as vents. Compares to a saberstaff. Oh, and the black-purple color crystal was used because I always use that crystal for all of my characters in SWTOR.**

 **Father's Gift: The knowledge that Father gifted Harry will** _ **not**_ **repeat** _ **not**_ **make him instantly OP. I never specified what knowledge Father gave Harry. 'Knowledge' itself is a broad term. It could be history, visions, Force techniques. It could be a lot of things. But it was a fraction of a fraction of what the Father knew. A good analogy to this would be in SG-1 when Jack got the Ancient Database downloaded into his head, twice. He didn't know everything at once, it came to him in slow bursts. Nor did he become insanely OP once the knowledge was fully in his head either. The same is going to happen to Harry only on a much, much smaller scale. And Harry will always remain himself.**

 **There's also been a question as to who has top billing in this story. And the short answer is both Harry and Nox. However I don't like to limit myself to just those two POV's, which is why I jump around a lot. I think using a wide range of POV's offers multiple view points into the story, and those are the types of stories I like to read, so those are the ones that I write.**

 **So there, just wanted to get those two points out there. Other than that, thank you all for your support! We hit 1000 follows on the last chapter! And that is simply amazing to me! Thank you to everyone who reviewed as well! You guys keep me writing! Hope that you all enjoy this chapter!**

 **And lastly, a huge thank you to both of my beta readers/idea bouncers, HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon. Thank you both so much!**

 **Chapter 4:**

' _There is no Dark Side nor a Light Side. There is only the Force. I will do what I must to keep the balance. The balance is what sustains me. There is no good without evil, but evil must not be allowed to flourish. There is passion, yet peace. Serenity, yet emotion. Chaos, yet order. I am the wielder of the flame, the protector of balance. I am the holder of the torch lighting the way. I am the keeper of the flame, the soldier of balance. I am a guardian of balance.'_

Slowly coming out of her meditative trance, Aayla Secura opened her eyes and rolled her head around slowly making her neck crack more than a few times. Getting up from her cross-legged position she walked out of the room within the Force tent that she shared with Ahsoka and into the main sitting area of the tent. She wasn't necessarily surprised to find that she was alone within the tent. ' _Ahsoka is more than likely with the other younglings learning from Master Kento.'_

It'd been ten days since Nox had sent her three students out to their trials. After the three had been sent out they landed upon a large plateau nearly a hundred klicks away from their position. Once they were settled down, Nox had wasted no time in insisting that the remaining younglings resume their Force training, including the young little nautolan who was also being tutored by the young blond girl, Luna, in how to speak basic and the language of Earth. Which was something that all of htem needed to learn seeing as how they would be staying there for the foreseeable future. Luckily the language, English, was remarkable similar to Galactic Basic so they were able to pick it up rather quickly.

Ahsoka had managed to watch the younglings saber training for an hour before she broke down asked Nox if she could participate as well. Nox had agreed and Ahsoka had grabbed a training saber, although where Nox had obtained so many she had no idea, and fell into line with the rest of the younglings.

The next day Kento had gotten involved with the training as well. Before he'd left the Order, he'd been an instructor in saber basics for the younglings within the temple. And after watching the bushy haired girl, Hermione, make the same mistake several times in her form he stepped in, with a slight bow to Nox, and corrected her. After that Nox had stepped back and let Kento take charge of the training. Saying that it was good for the younglings to learn from multiple instructors as they would be able to catch some things that others did not.

Walking out of the tent, she made her way towards the exit ramp of the ship. As she passed through the galley, she idly noted that several of the dishes within the small sink area where washing themselves, drying themselves and then placing themselves onto a large rack without anyone nearby.

Ever since Nox had told them about these strange Force abilities, or magic as she insisted they be called, she'd encouraged her students to use their abilities as often as possible so that Kento, Mallie, Ahsoka and herself could not only get used to seeing the abilities in action but to also pick up on the basics.

Some of the Force abil – magic they performed was simply incredible. Like the bowl-like device that Nox used to share her memories. A journey which Aayla had asked to take twice more. The main reason of which was to watch the vision Nox had had around pertaining to the destruction of the Jedi. As painful as it was to watch…Aayla forced herself to watch it. She wanted to see just who it was that had betrayed them. But strangely enough, when the traitor stepped into the vision they were completely shrouded in darkness. Something that seemed to surprise even Nox.

There were dozens of other For – magical abilities they performed that had peeked Aayla interest as well. Cutting spells that could cut through wood and metal with ease. The ability to change one substance into another, which was a skill they called 'transfiguration' and which apparently had an entire branch of study dedicated to it. The ability to create fire. Shrinking or enlarging items. And according to Remus, who'd been giving Ahsoka, Kento, Mallie and herself a broad overview of magic as well as continuing to teach the younglings, what they'd seen so far barely even scratched the surface of what magic could do.

Unfortunately though, neither herself nor Kento, Mallie, or Ahsoka were able to even practice this new art as they were all without wands. A fact that baffled Aayla more than slightly, but after failing multiple times to cast these spells without a wand, she was forced to concede the point that they needed one. And apparently since it wasn't possible, or apparently wise, to use someone else's wand they had to wait until they reached this Earth to truly practice. But until then Nox had given them text, actually text's written on organic paper, to read and study.

Other abilities however had almost seemed…insulting. Like using the Force to clean food trays and utensils. Or using the Force to mend clothing that'd been torn during training. Using the Force – magic for such menial tasks felt almost…disrespectful to Aayla.

Tearing her eyes away from the self-cleaning dishes, Aayla made her way towards the exit of the ship. Walking down the ramp, she heard the steady beating of training sabers slamming against one another. Just off to the right of the ship in the small clearing that'd been designated as their training spot, Ahoska and the red haired girl, Ginny, were facing off against one another while the other younglings formed a circle around the two while Nox and Kento watched on.

As she approached, Aayla couldn't help but feel impressed with the petite girl. She was incredibly skilled for one so young. Especially with such a complex form like Ataru, Aayla own preferred form along with Shien. And while Ahsoka preferred the same form, she had something that Ginny did not. Almost two years of actual combat experience thanks to the Clone Wars.

Soon enough Ginny over extended one of her upward slashes and Ahsoka immediately took advantage of the opening by sweeping her leg around and tripping Ginny. Before Ginny could even hit the ground, Ahsoka had brought her training saber back around and held it next to the girls neck.

"Well done, both of you." Nox congratulated the two as Ahsoka helped Ginny back up to her feet.

"Thank you Master Nox." Both Ginny and Ahsoka said bowing slightly as Nox approached the two.

"Ahsoka…your skill with a blade is unquestionable." Nox praised Ahsoka, making the togruta smile under the praise. "However you had at least five other chances to end this spar well before you did. And I know you saw those openings as well. Next time you see an opening to end a fight, even if it is only training, take it. You do a disservice to yourself and to your partner by holding back."

"Yes Master Nox." Ahsoka nodded, and Aayla could tell that the younger togruta was truly taking the former Sith's words to heart.

Nodding, Nox turned her attention to Ginny. "And Ginny. Your skills are improving tremendously, but you still take far too much time in transitioning from attack to defense. In a true fight, such hesitations will mean your end. Ahsoka is quite skilled with Ataru. Watch her closely and learn from her."

"Yes Master." Ginny nodded just as Aayla drew even with Kento.

"Kento," Nox called out turning around towards the two of them. "Aayla. Do either of you have anything to add?"

Stepping forward, Kento began going over a few basic observations he'd noticed during the sparing match before expanding on them so that he was lecturing to the group of younglings as a whole before motioning for them to all stand up so they could work on basic stances.

Hearing a loud wining, Aayla turned her head back towards the ship just in time to see BB8 and Tonks running down the boarding ramp and dashing towards them. "Nox!" Tonks shouted breathlessly, bringing an end to Kento's lessons. "We've got a serious problem!"

Moving away from the younglings, Nox stood before the slightly panting woman and the rapidly chirping droid. "What's going on?"

"Bee-bee and I were working on the scanners," Tonks breathed. "And we just got them back up and running and – and there's a ship entering the atmosphere just west of our position."

' _That's impossible.'_ Aayla blinked as she looked up to the sky. ' _We're in uncharted space. Who could've followed us out here?'_

"Pack up everything." Nox said sharply. "And get back aboard the ship. The disillusionment runes on board will mask the ship but only the ship."

"It's too late." Aayla said, pointing towards a dark dot on the horizon that was steadily getting larger. "They've already found us."

Looking up into the sky, Nox growled and Aayla could've sworn she saw the lining of her iris's turn a slight shade of yellow before immediately reverting back to their normal green color. "Everyone fall back to the ship and take up defensive positions." Nox said, her eyes never leaving the approaching ship. "Aayla and Kento stay with me. The three of us are going to greet these new comers."

Aayla was pleasantly surprised when all of the younglings that came with Nox immediately fell back to the ship along with the woman Tonks and the droid BB8. She wasn't surprised however when Ahsoka firmly stood her ground. "I'm staying. I'll be more use to you here rather than from cover."

Nox spared the girl a single look before refocusing her gaze back on the ship. "I see that you are just as stubborn as my son. Why do I get the feeling that you two are going to be giving me more than a few headaches in the future?" Snapping her hand off to the side, Aayla felt the now familiar pulse of the Force as a lightsaber appeared in her outstretched hand. Flipping the hilt around in her hand, Nox then held the curved end towards Ahsoka. "I'm just as effective without this as I with. But I want that back."

"Yes…Master." Ahsoka nodded as she took the offered lightsaber, clearly surprised at not being rebuked for her being…well herself.

Flipping her own lightsaber into her hand, Aayla stood side by side with Nox, Kento and Ahsoka as the four of them watched the ship getting steadily closer. "Huh…that's way too small to be a Republ – Imperial ship." Kento noted. "Pirates maybe?"

"Possible." Nox commented, her eyes narrowing. "But…I don't think so. I think it's something…or rather someone else entirely."

Before Aayla could ask what Nox meant she felt something in the Force. Something she hadn't felt in a long time. Looking up at the ship, her grip on her lightsaber loosened as the ship slowed to the point where it was hovering less than a few dozen meters in front and nearly thirty meters above them. As the boarding ramp to the ship opened as single figure jumped out and flipped head over heels before landing perfectly in front of them.

If she'd had any lingering doubts about what she was feeling, they were thoroughly put to rest at the display. "Master."

Standing up from his crouched position, her former Master Quinlan Vos, cracked his neck a few times before giving Aayla his trade mark half-grin. "Hey kiddo, how's it hanging?"

Aayla didn't even realize she'd been moving until she was colliding with her former Master while wrapping her arms around him. "Master…is it really you?"

"Yeah it's me kiddo." Quinlan answered returning her hug briefly. "Hey…have you gained a few pounds around the middle?"

Pulling back from her former Master, Aayla cocked back her fist and struck him right under the jaw, knocking him to the ground. "Damn kiddo!" Quinlan laughed while rubbing at his jaw. "I see you got a bit stronger. That's a mean hook you're packing there."

"I thought you nearly died!" Aayla screamed. "I – I thought you were dead Master. And now you're alive and – and the first thing you comment on is that you think I've gained weight?!"

"I take it that you know this man Aayla?"

Feeling her face heat up, Aayla awkwardly tried to recover her composure as best she could as Nox and the others stepped forward. "This is my former Master, Quinlan Vos."

What happened next completely threw Aayla for a loop, especially considering that it was _her_ master who did it. Getting up from his feet and brushing himself off, her former Master stepped up in front of Nox and…and kneeled. Her Master…kneeled. He hardly ever bowed to Grand Master Yoda let alone kneeled to him. Yet here he was…kneeling to a woman he never met.

"You're the one." Quinlan said, staring up at Nox. "The one who sent the warning through the Force. I owe you my life. Had your warning come even a few minutes later we would've been caught in an ambush and killed."

Stepping up to her former Master, Nox held out her hand. "Careful what you say Vos. One day I may just take you up on that dept."

Accepting her offered hand, Quinlan rose up to his feet and turned towards Kento. "Kento, my man. How's the misses been treating ya? And where she at?"

Smiling, Kento embraced Quinlan. "Mallie's alright. She's onboard the ship with our son Galen."

Pulling back from the embrace, Quinlan punched Kento lightly on the shoulder. "Your son? Man, you really didn't waste any time did ya? Not that I can blame you with a woman like Mallie." Turning, her former Master stepped up to Ahsoka. "And you can only be Ahsoka Tano. Last time I talked to Kenobi he had only good things to say about you. Can't believe the Jedi High Council had their heads shoved so far up their ass during your trial. I know Kenobi at least deep regretted everything that happened to you."

"Thank you, Master Vos." Ahsoka nodded while looking more than slightly uneased by the reminder of what she'd endured thanks to the Jedi High Council. "When was the last time you spoke with Master Kenobi?"

"Just before all the shit went down." Quinlan sighed. "I've been trying to get a hold of him…but so far no luck."

"You said 'we'." Nox called out bringing an end to their reunion. "And I doubt that you're landing your ship while standing here. So who else did you bring with you?"

As soon as the question left her, Aayla felt a wave of nervousness float off of her former Master. ' _Why is he nervous?'_ She wondered as Quinlan scratched the back of his head. ' _He's never nervous about anything! What…what has he gone and done now?'_

"Well…about that." Quinlan responded, still rubbing at the back of his head as he turned to watch the ship he'd arrived in smoothly land. "I need all of you to promise not to do anything rash for the next ten minutes or so."

Just as Aayla was about to ask what he meant by that, she felt another presence in the Force. Only this one was much…darker than any Jedi she'd knew of. As a figure appeared on the ramp Aayla felt her eyes widen as she finally recognized the woman. Although it was Ahsoka who named her first. "Ventress!" Ahsoka exclaimed. "You're…I thought I heard that you were dead!"

Stepping fully away from the ship, Asajj Ventress, the famous fallen Sith apprentice of Count Dooku, merely smiled at their shocked expressions while calmly brushing her now nearly chin length hair away from her eyes and behind her ear. "Ahsoka Tano. You of all should know by now that I don't die that easily."

"But – Master. You reported her as dead after the events on – you lied." Aayla said abruptly as she felt a shifting of emotions coming from her former Master. As she managed to pinpoint what exactly it was her former master was feeling, she was left unable to do anything more than gape at him. "You lied…to the Jedi High Council."

"Well…not so much lied as much as skidded around the truth." Quinlan shrugged. "They didn't actually ask if she was dead…they just assumed she was when she didn't come back with me. And I never bothered to correct anyone. Although I'm pretty sure Yoda noticed I was holding something back. But thankfully the old man never questioned me on it further. Not that he necessarily had a chance too that is."

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Asajj approached Nox. The two women stared at one another before Asajj, in a move that shock more than a few present, drew her lightsaber and lashed out at Nox. Instead of drawing her own lightsaber though, Nox simply held up her hand and froze Asajj mid strike.

"Asajj!" Quinlan shouted as everyone, including Aayla herself, drew their lightsabers and pointed them towards the ex-assassin. "What are you-"

"She's testing my strength," Nox responded calmly while motioning for everyone to take a step back. "I wouldn't expect you Jedi to necessarily understand."

Then with two quick movements of her hand Nox somehow deactivated Ventress's lightsaber before summoning it away from her. "You're skilled." Nox commented as she stepped towards Ventress while idly tapping the ex-assassins lightsaber against the palm of her hand. "You were well trained…but your training is far from complete. And given that you were trained by a Sith, I understand why." Stopping a few feet from Ventress, Nox tossed the assassin her lightsaber. "If you come with us, I vow to you that not only will I help to complete your training, but I will also teach you aspects of the Force that you never dreamed possible. And unlike your previous Masters…I will never betray you or turn my back on you."

Clipping her lightsaber back onto her belt, Ventress shocked everyone once more as she knelt down in front of Nox. "Teach me…Master."

Holding out her hand, Nox smiled at Ventress. "I'm not one for formalities Ventress. Rise."

Ventress stared down at the offered hand before glancing up at Nox. After a moment hesitation Ventress took the offered hand and stood up. "Well," Kento said, clapping his hands together. "Now that we're all acquainted why don't we-"

Aayla nearly doubled over as the Force slammed into her. The sensation was so intense that it took her nearly a full minute to recognize just what it was she was sensing. But the Force…it seemed almost…pleased. Risking a glance up, she saw that nearly all of the Force users save for Nox were doubled over like herself.

"Wh – what was that?" Ahsoka gasped looking around. "The Force…I've never felt anything like that!"

"My son and my apprentices have passed their Trials." Nox said, as she smiled widely. "And with their passing, a new branch of Force users has officially been created."

* * *

Sitting in his office – no – throne within the Senate building on Coruscant, Darth Sidious, and now Emperor of the first Galactic Empire leaned back in his seat as he absorbed the report that he'd just received from his right hand and apprentice Darth Vader. ' _It appears this mysterious Force presence didn't wait long before making their – no – her move. Perhaps the only truly useful bit of information that Vader was able to extract from the few who survived the destruction of the_ Dauntless. _Although we still do not have any idea about what she looks like._ '

Although it shouldn't be too hard to try and figure out just who she was. Despite the somewhat cryptic message, she did leave some clues as to her identity. The most telling was when she told Vader that she knew first-hand about 'hitting rock bottom'. More than likely this mysterious Force user was once a Sith who'd turned their back on true power. His first thought when he heard that it was a female was Ventress. However, he dismissed that idea almost as soon as it came to him. Firstly, while powerful Ventress was nowhere near the level of the Force presence he'd sensed. Not only that, but she was dead as well. As confirmed by both his former failed apprentice and the Jedi Council themselves.

And while there were other side Lady's since the time of Darth Bane…none of them made sense. Mostly due to the fact that the last Dark Lady had been Darth Gean nearly five hundred years ago. And he doubted that she was responsible. Sidious's own former Master Darth Plagueis often praised the twi'lek Sith Lady for her adherence to the Sith Order when she killed her Master after discovering he was trying to destroy the history of the Sith. So no, it could not be her. So then…who?

The survivors of the _Dauntless_ unfortunately had little more to add to the report. All they knew was that ship had been attacked by an unknown number of Jedi Knights and Padawans who'd been on a mission to rescue their Jedi companion Ahsoka Tano.

Hearing the name of the young torgurta made Sidious want to crack up slightly. He knew exactly why his apprentice had responded personally to her capture. In the few short weeks since he'd implemented his plan to capture more Jedi, at least three reckless Knights and one idiotic Padawan had been captured. All of whom had received the same treatment. But Vader had never responded to any of them.

' _Already looking for an apprentice, my apprentice.'_ Sidious laughed to himself. ' _Already plotting my demise. Your journey to the dark side is nearly complete. Soon there will be nothing left of Anakin Skywalker.'_

Hearing door alarm ring, Sidious turned towards the door to his private office as Mas Amedda strode into the room. Stopping a respectful distance from his Emperor, the male chagrain bowed lowly. "My Emperor, I have news."

Closing the report from his apprentice, Sidious turned his full attention onto one of the few that new his true motivations ever since his ascension to Supreme Chancellor. "Speak, Grand Vizier."

"At your pleasure, my Emperor." Amedda nodded before standing upright. "Despite our efforts, word of the destruction of the _Dauntless_ has gone public. However, we have been able to downplay the role the Jedi played in its destruction. And no one has been able to figure out that the ship was holding a prisoner Jedi, let alone who it was. Unfortunately my Lord, certain Senators have been asking questions about the incident."

' _Senator Organa and Senator Mothma no doubt.'_ Sidious thought while leaning back in his seat while trying to think. "We will use this to our advantage."

"My Lord?"

Rising from his seat, Sidious turned his back on his advisor and stared out over the spiraling expanse of Coruscant. "We will tell the people the truth. A group of Jedi attacked and destroyed the _Dauntless_ and its escort. We will also be increasing the bounties on the Jedi."

"As you wish, my Lord." Amedda bowed. "But what of Senators Mothma and Organa. It is unlikely that they will believe our official statement regarding the fate of the _Dauntless_."

"Increase the security detail around both of them while they are here on Coruscant." Sidioud responded without hesitation. "After all, they are highly respected members of the Imperial Senate. Prime targets for any Jedi seeking revenge. And send our best men to Alderaan and Chandrila. Make sure that they're families and friends are kept…safe from harm."

"As you will, my Lord." Amedda smiled while bowing. "Do you require anything else my Lord?"

"No." Sidious responded without looking back. "Now leave me."

"Yes, my Lord."

After hearing the door open and close, Sidious finally turned back around and sat back down in his seat. Despite the situation, Sidious felt something stirring within himself. Excitement. ' _A new challenge has already arisen. Hehehe. Let us see what your next move is…mysterious Force user.'_

* * *

Groaning, Harry forced his eyes to open slightly as he roll over so he could face the dying embers of the fire that was just a short distance in front of him. Rubbing at his eyes, Harry fought a losing battle against the migraine that was pounding in his skull. ' _Good Merlin…what did Father do to me? My head is killing me and – wait. I didn't light a fire.'_

Immediately sitting upright, and regretting the action immediately as his head pounded, Harry forced his eyes open the rest of the way as he took stock of just where he was. The dying embers of the fire gave him just enough light to see the makings of a small makeshift camp laid out around him. There was another bed roll just on the other side of the fire from him, but it was currently empty.

' _Okay…I didn't make this camp myself. And it doesn't look like I'm anywhere near the lake where I talked to father. So there has to be another person here somewhere.'_

Closing his eyes, Harry straightened his posture as he searched through the Force for whoever might've have brought him here. "Found me, have you?"

Twisting around, Harry spanned his wand and lightsaber into his outstretched hands and faced off against the voice – only to find a small green creature no taller, but slightly stockier than a house elf sitting on a tree branch behind him. "Who are you?"

The little green creature cocked its head. "Who am I? Who am I he asks. Polite it is, to demand introduction without giving one first hm?"

As he listened to the little creature, something clicked in Harry's mind. ' _Could he be…?'_ Opening himself to the Force, Harry briefly felt for the little beings power before answering. "You're right, I apologize. My name is Harry Potter. I feel that I already know who you are." At the lifting of the little creature's eyebrows Harry pressed on. "You're Yoda. Grand Master of the Jedi Order."

Yoda's eyebrows rose even higher at the mentioning of his name. "Know me, you do?"

"I know of you. I've read about you on the holonet." Harry said, rising to his feet. "Also Kento Marek, Mallie Marek, Aayla Secura and Ahsoka Tano have all spoken about you. During the brief time I spent with them."

Yoda's eyes closed as he hummed. "Hm…so many with you, you have. Good." Opening his eyes the corners of Yoda's mouth turned upwards. "Powerful. Like your mother, you are."

"You know my mother?" Harry asked confusedly.

"Know your mother, I do not." Yoda answered. "Know _of_ your mother, I do. Powerful Sith Lady she was. Frozen within the Force she was. Found balance within the Force, she did. Succeed where I failed…she will."

"You failed?" Harry questioned, stepping forward and kneeling before the ancient Jedi.

"Failed as a Jedi, I have." Yoda responded sadly. "Failed…so many many times."

Sitting down fully, Harry crossed his legs and faced the old Jedi. "The only ones who can truly say that they have failed are the ones who have died, or those who have given up. And you still look very much alive to me Master Yoda." Harry said staring directly into the old Jedi's eyes. "So have you given up on all of those out there that are still depending on you Master Yoda? Because if so…then you're right. You have failed."

Yoda didn't respond to his accusation. Preferring instead to just sit there and stare at Harry. Then he stared to chuckle lightly. "Amazing, the mind of a young one is. Harsh, your words they are. But wisdom they have. Given up, I have not. Continue to fight against the Sith, I do."

"Then you haven't failed yet Master Yoda." Harry answered biting his lip. "I – I can't say that I know exactly what you're going…but I have a good idea as to the pain you feel." At this Yoda's eyebrows rose almost challengingly. "I felt it too Master Yoda. I felt as the Jedi were killed. Not to the same extent that my mother or you did…but I felt their deaths as well."

As Yoda closed his eyes once more, Harry felt brief brushes against his mind with the Force. Deciding to go out on a limb, Harry lowered his defenses just enough to allow Yoda to feel that he was speaking the truth. "Hmm…powerful you are. Even more powerful you will be, in time."

Closing up his defenses, he continued staring at the small Jedi Master. "So what happens now Master Yoda?"

Humming, Yoda opened his eyes. "Guide me to you, the Force has. Travel with you, I shall."

' _Well…mother said that one of the reasons we came out here was to find Jedi. She's already welcome Kento, Mallie, Nat, Aayla and Ahsoka. I'm sure she'd have no problems welcoming the Grand Master of the Jedi.'_

"And we'll be happy to have you with us, Master Yoda." Harry smiled as he held out his hand.

Yoda stared at his hand for a moment apparently confused. Just as Harry was about to pull his hand back, Yoda's much smaller three fingered hand reached out and slightly gripped his in return. As soon as the two shook hands, Harry felt the Force around then lurch. It was almost as if the Force was…pleased. That's the only way Harry could describe the sensations he was receiving from the Force.

Smiling, Yoda tilted his head back and almost seemed to be basking in the feel coming from the Force. "Feel it, you do?" It wasn't really a question. "Shatterpoint, we have passed. Correctly, we have chosen. Pleased, the Force is."

"I can sense that." Harry remarked. "So…what do we do now? You wouldn't happen to know where my mother landed her ship would you."  
"Expect me to know everything do you?" Yoda laughed. "Clear your thoughts young one. Open yourself to the Force. Let it flow through you. Control it, do not. To your mother and friends, guide you it will."

Grumbling slightly at being chastised, Harry closed his eyes and pushed all thoughts from his mind. "Good, good. Clear your mind young one. Open your mind. Guide you, the Force will."

Before, Harry had always had a little bit of trouble falling into the flow of the Force. But now, for some reason, it was almost too easy. Letting the Force guide him, he felt his consciousness flow over the trees and mountains surrounding them. "I found them." Harry breathed, keeping his eyes shut. "They're a day or two southeast of us. And – and I sense that Daphne and Susan are already with them."

"Good good." Yoda hummed as Harry opened his eyes. "Now come, let us go."

Getting up to his feet, Harry watched as Yoda hopped down off of the low hanging branch he'd been standing on, pick up a gnarled walking stick…and then start walking in the opposite direction. "Umm, Master Yoda…they're that way."

"I know." Yoda chuckled. "But have something to show you first, I do. This direction we must go. Reach out to your mother, you will. Follow us, she shall."

Reaching out once again, he found his way back to his mother and his friends. Locating his mother within the group wasn't all that difficult considering she stood out almost like a beacon in the Force compared to the others. Lightly brushing against her mind, he waited until he felt a familiar push back before severing the connection and opening his eyes. "Alright, let's go."

Harry made to take the lead, but immediately fell to his knees as Yoda's twisted walking struck struck him right in the back of the knees. "Hey!" He shouted, looking back at the calm looking Jedi Master. "What in Merlin's name was that for?"

"Longer legs you have." Master Yoda said, pointing at his legs with his walking stick. "Faster you move. Carry me, you will."

Grumbling more than slightly, Harry knelt down far enough so the elder Jedi could climb up onto his back. "You carried me here didn't you?"

"Yes." Yoda said, settling his body against Harry's back as he stood up. "Return the favor now, you will. When nine-hundred year's old you reach, then complain to me you can."

"Fine." Harry mumbled shaking his head. "Now where are we heading again?"

"That way." Yoda said pointing off into the distance.

Rolling his shoulders, Harry started running in the direction Yoda was pointing. "Alright then…just make sure you don't fall off…old man."

* * *

Standing on the bridge of the _Ashara_ , Nox watched the landscape of Odessen pass them by as Tonks piloted the ship in the direction Nox had given her. "Are you sure Harry is this way?" Tonks asked.

"Yes." Nox answered, feeling her son's presence in the Force. "He reached out to me and hasn't been trying to hide himself since. Wherever he's going, he wants us to follow him."

"And you're sure that his Trial thing is over right?" Tonks asked.

"Yes." Nox nodded. "You felt the shift in the Force Nymph. Whatever Harry's Trial was, it's now over. And now he's leading us somewhere." Although just who was leading Harry was the true question. She'd briefly felt a second, fairly powerful, presence during the disturbance. But they had hidden themselves again or at least dampened their presence as soon as the disturbance was at an end.

Nodding, Tonks adjusted the ships stabilizers allowing them to gently float down a steep cliff side. "Well he can't be too much further aw…way. Holy Merlin's beard. What is that?"

There was no need to ask just what Nymph was referring too. Less than a few hundred meters in front of them was a small mountain range. And while the mountain range wasn't unexpected, what laid at its base was. There were dozens of large rusted out support trusses and platforms that'd been damaged by time. But the most notable thing was the large flora covered ruined ship that was next to them. "What is this place?" Nymph asked looking around.

"I don't know." Nox answered honestly. Revan had given her next to no information about this world, not that she'd really asked. Spotting a large opening into the mountain side, she pointed it out to Nymph. "Take us down right over there."

Guiding the ship down into the ravine, Tonks gently set the ship down between the mountain side and the ruined ship with enough space left so that the _Howling Wind_ could settled down right next to them. Turning out of the bridge, Nox made her way through the ship and down the still lowering loading ramp.

Walking down the ramp, Nox looked around at the ruins that surrounded them. "What is this place Master?" Hermione asked as she stepped up beside her.

"I don't know." Nox answered as everyone else, save for Daphne and Susan who were still resting in their tents, exited the _Ashara_ and the _Howling Wind._

"Too small to be any type of settlement. Probably a military settlement of some kind." Vos observed as he walked up to one fallen structures and placed a hand against it. "Eh, whatever happened here happened a long time ago. I can't sense anything."

Walking towards the cliff side entrance, Nox heard something rumble beneath her foot just as she stepped inside. Looking down, she saw that she was standing on some sort of ornament wall hanging that had no doubt fallen off whenever this place had been abandoned. Crouching down she waved her hand over the piece of metal to clear off the perhaps millennia's worth of dirt dust that'd been covering it. As she cleared away the dirt a symbol slowly became visible. After staring at the symbol for few seconds she finally realized just what it was she was looking at. Half of it was the mark of the Jedi and the other half was the mark of the Sith.

"Mallie." Nox called over her shoulder. "You're a student of history are you not? Do you recognize this mark?"

Moving off to the side so Mallie could get a good look, Nox waited as Mallie slowly ran her hand over the mark. "Oh…Force. This – this is the symbol for the alliance that existed between the Sith and the Jedi that banded together to fight against the Eternal Empire of Zakuul." Mallie breathed as if she couldn't quite believe just what she was looking at. "They're very existence was thought to be a myth! They were founded by the former Jedi-Battlemaster Aedan Tabris! But no record has ever been found confirming that it even existed."

"Well I guess we can confirm that this alliance did exist then."

Everyone save for Nox gave off start of surprise as they all drew their wands or lightsabers and faced off against the voice that was coming from deeper within the ruins. Casting a look down the darkened corridor, Nox let out a tired sigh. "There's a time and a place for pranks Harry." Nox said casually as she motioned for everyone to lower their weapons. "You also need to work on your audience. You're just lucky you didn't get cursed or stabbed."

"Why do you think I spoke up from behind this wall?" Harry asked as a figure slowly started walking out from the darkness. "And besides…I figured that I owed your one considering you pushed three of us out of a _moving_ starship."

"Good Merlin." Remus sighed as he put away his wand. "Your father would've been so proud of you just now Har – what the…Harry what did you do to yourself?"

Emerging fully into the light, everyone who had relaxed their guard were immediately on guard once more. Even Nox was slightly startled by the change she saw. But the one who seemed the most disturbed by far was Ahsoka. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the little togruta completely freeze up and her eyes widen as she took a step back and closer to Aayla.

"What?" Harry asked looking around uneasily at their reaction to him. "Is there something on my face?"

"Speak of your eyes, they do young one."

Again just about everyone jumped, albeit for different reasons, as the steady knocking of a cane announced the arrival of a very small, but incredibly powerful being. One that Nox recognized immediately. And judging by the look of respect he was giving her…he no doubt recognized her through her Force presence as well.

"Master Yoda!" Aayla nearly shouted as she ran forward a few paces before stopping and dropping to a knee before the Grand Master of the Jedi. "It's…it's so good to see you again Master."

"Master Secura." Yoda smiled at the rutian Jedi before turning to the rest of the Jedi in their group. "Master Vos. Master Marek. Knight Liz. Padawan Tano. Assajj Ventress. Warm's my heart to see you all, it does."

"Former Padawan, Master Yoda." Ahsoka said, her voice a mixture of harsh anger and relief.

"And its Marek now Master Yoda," Mallie added. "Not Liz."

"Forgive me." Yoda nodded before hobbling forward towards Ahsoka. "Former Padawan Tano. Wronged your greatly, I have. Hope to one day earn your forgiveness, I do."

Nox could sense all of the conflicting emotions rolling off of the girl in waves. Relief. Resentment. Joy. Anger. Betrayal. Lowering her head, Ahsoka let out a low sight. "We'll see…Master Yoda."

Ventress however was giving the old Jedi Master a curious look. "You don't seem surprised that I'm alive."

"I am not." Yoda answered with a shrug. "Knew Master Vos was lying, I did. Chose not to say anything. Earned a new chance free of past bonds, you have."

"Umm, sorry to break up this little reunion. But could someone please tell me what's wrong with my eyes?"

Pulling out her wand, an action which caused the little green Jedi to shift his posture ever so slightly, Nox waved it in a tight circle, creating a small mirror which she held out for her son. "Take a look for yourself my son."

Taking the mirror, Harry hesitantly looked into its depths. "What the!" He exclaimed as he saw what everyone else had seen. His eyes were now completely black save for his irises which had retained their bright green coloring. "What – what did that old man do to me?"

"Old man?" Nox questioned, her eyes flickering to the small green Jedi.

"A different old man." Harry said licking his lips and handing the mirror back to her. "He had eyes just like mine and…and he felt even stronger than you mother."

Behind them, she heard a gasp. Turning around, she saw that Ahsoka had gone completely pale. "It…it can't be. He's dead."

"He actually said something about that." Harry nodded slowly. "Said something about his Daughter dying and him dying and then his Son or something like that-"

"It was exactly like that." Ahsoka said sadly. "I should know. I was there when it happened. The Father brought my Master, Master Kenobi and myself to his home. He wanted my Master to take over keeping his Son and Daughter in check. But my Master…he refused and…and they all died."

"That's pretty much what the Father said." Harry nodded, before his brow furrowed. "No…that's what happened. Daughter…she died saving another and Son…Father died to stop him." Rubbing at his forehead, Harry took a step back and curled in on himself slightly. "Why – why do I know that?"

Crossing the distance between them, Nox reached up and placed her hands onto either side of her son's head. Harry didn't put any resistance as she easily slipped past his barriers and into his mind. The world around them faded into nothingness as Nox searched her son's mind for any strange. It didn't take her long to find it either. A large chunk of darkened memories within his mind that were not his own and that she was unable to access. As she felt around the blocked memories, she could feel her son's fear mounting with each passing moment.

"It seems this Father person left you a gift." Nox said as the world around them slowly came back into focus. Tilting his head down, she pressed her forehead against his as she felt the fear within him rising. "We'll figure this out together my son…I promise you."

Pulling back from Harry, she noticed that everyone around them had spread out slightly while the two of them were together and were now scouring through the ruins within the immediate vicinity of the entrance. Everyone save for the four Jedi and Ahsoka, who were all gathered around Yoda. "Master Yoda." Ahsoka said hesitantly. "Have…have you seen Master Skywalker? Or maybe Master Kenobi?"

Nox instantly turned her full attention to the Jedi within their group. Or more specifically, the former Grand Master of the Jedi. Ever since they'd collected their Jedi companions, Nox had been pouring over every scrap of information she'd been able to pull from them about what had happened from the battle of Naboo fourteen years ago to the recent Clone Wars and the purge of the Jedi. After looking over everything from a Sith's point of view, she was pretty sure she knew exactly what had happened and how, except for the Clones sudden turning without question. All she needed was verification. Which she hoped to gain from the former Grand Master.

The slight tightening around his eyes and the way he gripped his cane just the slightest bit harder told her all that she needed to know. "Alive, Master Kenobi is. Hidden on Tatooine. Safe from the Empire for now, he is."

Ahsoka smiled slightly at the news. "What about Master Skywalker? Is he with Master Kenobi?"

Instead of answering her question, Yoda looked away from her and off into the distance. "You may as well tell them." Nox said, her voice ringing out loud and clear in the suddenly silent cave. "Or I will."

Yoda fixed her with a questioning gaze. "Know what happened, you do?"

"I had theories." Nox answered sparing a glance towards the increasing impatient looking Ahsoka. "I had these four tell me everything they could about what has happened over the past decade and a half. And then I looked at it from a Sith's point of view. And your hesitation has only confirmed what I thought. So tell them."

Ahsoka, and the rest of the Jedi for that matter, looked about ready to say something. But they all held their tongues as she and Yoda continued to stare one another down. "Only pain, will it cause."

"Better they face it now and give it time to heal, rather than have it surprise them in the future and possibly cost them their lives." Nox growled taking a step towards the little Master. "Tell them. Now."

Yoda stared at her for a minute longer before sighing and reaching into the folds of his robes. Pulling out a small holo-recording disk, he levitated the small device down onto the floor and activated it. As the projection came into focus, Nox found herself staring at an image she'd spent weeks studying. "This…this is the Council Chambers." Aayla noted as she leaned in close to the projection.

The just as she'd seen in her vision, a man entered the projection. But unlike her visions, he was no longer shrouded in shadows. "Skywalker?" Vos blinked as the Jedi, along with Harry and herself, crowed around the projection. "I didn't think he was at the Temple when…oh no."  
As she spoke, the man in the projection walked up to the first youngling, drew his lightsaber, and cut the child down. "No!" Ahsoka screamed, falling to her knees as she watched her former Master cut down one child after another. "No…no no no no. No! This isn't Master Skywalker! He would never! This isn't him!"

After the last of the children fell, the recording shifted to show the Jedi Skywalker kneeling before a withered figure. _**"You have done well my apprentice, Lord Vader. The dark side is swelling within you. Now go and end this war and bring peace to our Empire."**_

"No." Ahsoka cried, her head shaking back in forth in denial as the recording ended. "No. This…this isn't possible! Master Skywalker would never turn to the dark side! He – he would never do something like that!"

Summoning the small recording device back to him, Yoda tucked it back into the folds of his robes. Taking a few tentative steps towards the kneeling Ahsoka, Yoda's voice was full of sorrow as he spoke. "Twisted by the dark side, your Master has been. The man you knew…buried he is. Consumed. By Darth Vader."

Ahsoka stared up at Yoda, her eyes almost pleading for him to say that it was all a lie. "It's my fault!" Ahsoka screamed out before scrambling up to her feet and bolting out of the small cavern.

"Ahsoka!" Harry yelled, as he ran after her.

Aayla and the other Jedi made to follow, but they were stopped as Luna stepped out in front of them. "Harry will take care of his wings." She said, her head tilted slightly to the side and her wand behind her ear. "Trust him to do so."

"Are you sure Luna?" Nox asked before any of the Jedi could say anything.

Nodding, Luna turned and looked out the entrance to the tunnel. "Yes. Harry will take care of his wings. And we wings will take care of each other."

"We can't just let her deal with this on her own!" Kento half growled as he made to step past Luna, only to come to a stop as Ventress stepped in front of him.

"She needs to deal with this on her own." Ventress added. "You do her no good by coddling her."

"Harry will help her." Nox added with a note of finality as she turned back around so she was facing into the cavern. Stretching out her senses…she could almost feel something pulling at her from within. "Now come…the Force brought us here for a reason. Now let's go and see what it is."

* * *

Ahsoka didn't know where she was going, nor did she really care. The only thought in her head was that she had to get away from…from everything. The forest passed by her in a blur as she ran and ran deeper and deeper. ' _It's all my fault!'_ She screamed to herself as she dodge around another tree. ' _If I had only been there for him…I could've stopped him!'_

It was a root, sticking barely hands length above the surface of the ground, which finally stopped her. As her foot got tangled up in it, she went head over heels rolling again and again until she finally came to a stop. Vaguely she realized that she'd come to a stop on soft sandy beach near a large body of water. Not that she really cared much. Curling up into a ball she cried harder than she ever before. ' _Why? Why him? Skyguy was a beacon of light! How…why?'_

As her tears slowly dried out, she forced herself up into a sitting position on the soft sand. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she stared out over the calm waters of the lake her memories of her former Master slowly passed through her mind. His almost comical denial of her being assigned to him as a padawan learner. To the joy she felt when he actually agreed to her becoming his padawan…after casually stating that she was too reckless to have ever made it as Master Kenobi's padawan. To all of the times he saved her life…and she saved his during the war. To…to the moment she handed back her padawan's braid and turned her back on the Jedi Temple…on him.

"Is this spot taken?"

She just barely managed to keep herself from jumping at the sudden intrusion. Just behind her, Harry was kneeling down while pointing at the patch of sand just off to her right. Not trusting herself to speak, she shook her head and motioned for him to sit, which he did without saying a word.

For a long time they just sat there, neither saying a word as they watch the calm waters of the lake. And while she probably wouldn't admit it…she was grateful that he was there. "It's not your fault you know." Harry finally said, breaking the silence.

"Yes it is." Ahsoka shot back harsher than she intended. "I left him. If I had stayed I-"

"You'd probably be dead right now." Harry shot back without any real heat in his voice. "But the truth is…it doesn't matter. We could sit here all day and play 'what if' and nothing would change. We would still be sitting here on this beach."

Closing her eyes, she leaned her head down so that she was resting her chin on her knees. "You know…you really suck at this whole cheering people up thing."

"Sorry. Haven't had much practice at it." Harry replied sheepishly. "So…why don't you tell me about him? Your former Master. What was he like while you were his student?"

Opening her eyes, she felt herself smile despite herself. "He was…well he was different that's for sure. He often told me that the only person worse at following orders than me was himself. He was…passionate. Always willing to do what he thought was right even if he was ordered to do the exact opposite."

"Sounds like he's a good man." Harry offered.

"He is…was." Ahsoka said, slowly correcting herself. "I just…I wish I knew what made him turn. He hated the Sith. And now…now he is Sith. Why? Why would he do such a thing?"

"I don't know." Harry answered her before inching closer to her so that they were almost touching. "We may never know. But I promise you someday, somehow, someway, we'll get an answer out of him."

"Thanks Harry." Ahsoka smiled before leaning over just slightly so that the two of them were touching. Together the two of them sat on the beach, watching as the landscape slowly darkened as the sun began to set. "Um…Harry?"

"Yes?"

"I – uh…I really don't mean to ruin the moment but you…um…well." Leaning away from him, she dramatically pinched her nose shut. "You stink. Really, really bad."

Looking at her questioningly, Harry lifted one of his arms up to his nose and gave it an experimental sniff. "Oh whoa…you weren't kidding." Harry coughed while inching away from her slightly. "Um, sorry about that."

"It's alright." Ahsoka smiled despite herself. It was then that she noticed his lightsaber attached to his hip. It…didn't look the same as the one he had previously. "Harry…what happened to your lightsaber?"

"It uh, it kind of broke during my Trial." Harry answered sheepishly before reaching down and detaching it from his belt. Then in a surprise action, he flipped it around in his hand and held it out for her to take. "I guess it was part of my Trial to reforge it."

Taking the blade from him, she examined the hilt with a critical eye. It was definitely well made. Running her fingers over the hilt, she took carefully note of the three emitters at the top. She'd read about cross guard hilts before…but they fell out of favor way back before the Ruusan Reformation. "Harry…combat form do you usually use?" She asked, seeing as how they only really spent one or two days together, she never really saw which fighting style he preferred.

"Djem So or Shien mostly." Harry answered scratching at his chin.

Frowning, Ahsoka studied the three emitters closely. "Not that I'm trying to tell you what to do Harry…but you might want to change styles to accommodate for this lightsaber. With Djem So or Shien…you might accidently hit yourself with one of these side emitters."

"Yeah I thought about that." Harry nodded taking his lightsaber back from her and standing up. "And honestly I didn't build this on purpose…I just kind of let the Force guide me while the Forge constructed it. But while I was waiting for everyone to arrive at that cave, I had a chance to studied the lightsaber and…well watch."

Holding the lightsaber out in front of him, Harry activated it. A single black-purplish blade emerged from the main emitter. After a second Harry twitched his hand and the two side emitters came to life. Then with a third twitch the two side emitters died out and the main blade elongated by nearly two hand lengths.

"This lightsaber actually has three phases. Just like a saberstaff where you can activate one side or both. With this lightsaber you can activate a single standard blade, or the blade with the cross guard, or you can elongate the blade." Harry explained before deactivating the blade and handing it back off to her.

Taking the lightsaber from Harry, Ahsoka got up to her feet and activated the lightsaber. Moving the blade around experimentally, she switched between all three phases before settling in on the standard setting. Before she realized it, she was working through one of the Ataru forms. The hilt was perfectly balanced. Everything about the lightsaber was…nearly perfect. ' _No…I can't be…jealous…can I?'_

"It's beautiful." She said, deactivating the lightsaber and handing it back to Harry.

Harry took the lightsaber back from him, but then gave her a curious look. Titling his head away from her, he gazed out over the water for a minute without saying anything. "You miss it? Don't you? Having a lightsaber of your own."

Harry question caught her completely off guard. Mostly because she hadn't been expecting it. "Um…yes. It wasn't that obvious…was it?"

Finally looking away from the lake, Harry's black and green eyes resettled on her. "No. I'm just a mild empathic, nowhere near as good as Daphne though. But I could sense a bit…well…longing from you. So, well I figure I found the kyber crystal I used in that blade here on this world. And well, it stands to reason that if there is one there ought to be more right? Maybe we can try and find one for you before we head back to the ship."

A surge of hope swelled within her, one that she tried, and failed, to keep down. "It's…it's a nice thought Harry. But shouldn't we be getting back to the other-"

"I just talked with my mother." Harry countered, cutting her off. "She said that they're still working their way into that old base and we have more than enough time to try and find a crystal for you. Plus, we'll be here for another day or two. So if we don't find one today we, or you if you prefer, can always try and find one then."

Ahsoka stared at Harry unbelievingly. "You…talked to your mother? I didn't see you activate your comm link."

"Eh, don't really need one when talking to her." Harry replied. "The Bond between the two of us is…really deep. And we can communicate with each other after a fashion. It's not like we're holding full out conversations with words with one another. But we send…images and feelings at one another instead. It kind of works like our own private language."

' _To have such a deep bond…Force I've only ever read about an anomaly like that!'_ Again Ahsoka felt a wave of envy swell within her that she ruthlessly pushed down. "Well…if you think we have time. But usually the finding of a kyber crystal is a special journey that Jedi Learners or Padawan's are supposed to take alone." Seeing Harry's cheerful demeanor starting to drop, Ahsoka quickly corrected herself. "But…I'm no longer a Jedi am I? Plus, I've already done this once before…so if you think we can find one then let's go."

"Great!" Harry said smiling widely. "Well then…um…what do we do?"

Ahsoka couldn't help herself. She started laughing. "Harry…you just found a kyber crystal of your own!"

"I know." Harry replied rubbing the back of his head. "But uh…I basically almost tripped over it during my Trials. I have no idea how the Jedi used to go about collecting them."

Smiling despite herself, Ahsoka knelt down onto the sand. "You just meditate Harry. This isn't really for you anyway; I have to do most of the work. So just…well just don't do or say anything to interrupt me."

* * *

Lifting the last piece of debris that was currently in their way, Nox pulled out her wand and created a small orb of light and sent into the now open corridor. Following her actions, eight other orbs of light passed her by and illuminated the corridor. "Looks stable." Nox said loud enough for everyone to hear as she took a few tentative steps into the new area. "But let's be safe about this. Remus, Aela, Tonks. Create support beams and pillars along the walls and across the ceiling. Last thing we want is to have this all come crashing down on us and killing us. Or worse. Trapping us in here."

Nodding, Remus, Aela and Tonks all went about conjuring several support structures through the several millennia's old corridor as they went deeper into the ruins. "Curious…focuses you have. Alter the Force they do." Yoda observed as he watched the three work.

"Yes." Nox nodded before holding out her hand and conjuring another orb of light without the use of her wand. "But in time you learn how it feels to manipulate the Force and you can start doing some of the simpler spells without it."

"Hmm…most curious." Then to Nox's, and everyone else's for that matter, shock. Yoda held out his hand and created a similar, if severely less intense, sphere of light before sending it down the hall after the others.

"Show off." Vos commented from his place near the back of the pack.

As for Nox…she felt herself getting more than slightly upset at the little Jedi Master. It'd taken her nearly a month after she received her wand to learn how to create a sphere of light without it. And this little bugger…he'd done it successfully by only watching her and without the aid of a wand. "When nine-hundred years old you reach, learn a few tricks you will." Yoda commented, throwing her a grin. "Come come. Continue on we must."

"Bloody show off." Nox growled as she marched past the Jedi Master and deeper into the darkened corridor.

As they moved through the ruins, Nox noticed Aayla casting several glances back towards the exit. "Ahsoka is fine." She said, growing tired of the twi'lek's constant distraction. "She's with Harry at the moment. And the two of them are off hunting for a kyber crystal for herself."

"How do you know?" Aayla asked turning around to her.

"My son and I share an incredibly deep bound." She answered, noticing how Yoda's ears perked up and even the ex-Sith assassin leaned in to better hear. "And because of this, we can communicate with each other, after a fashion."

"Hm, an interesting bond you do share with your son." Yoda hummed. "Have heard of such deep bonds before. Did not expect one to exist with a former Sith."

Arching one eyebrow at the diminutive Jedi, Nox shook her head. "Not sure if I should be insulted or not."

"Insult, I meant not." Yoda added quickly. "Such a bond, exist between Sith Master and Apprentice, it cannot."

"Did you have such a bond with your own Master?" Ventress asked as she watched with a critical eye as Tonks used her wand to create a few more support beams.

"My Master? Zash? Haha. No. That bitch was only concerned with her own self-preservation." Nox answered with a laugh that slowly tapered off. "When I first became her apprentice, I through the galaxy of her. She choose me, a slave, to be her apprentice. She praised me, raised me up. Trusted me. But in the end, she was only using me. She used me to travel across the galaxy when she could not to gather several Sith artifacts. After I'd done that…she then used them to try and perform a Body-Switching Ritual."

"What is that?" Mallie asked as she carefully felt one of the support beams. "The Jedi library is a little light on records of Sith Rituals."

Shrugging, Nox pressed onwards. "It's exactly what it sounds like. She was attempting to imprint her consciousness into my youthful body while leaving my own stuck in her withered husk. Needless to say, she paid for her deception with her life. But this is all, quite literally too, ancient history. And…and what do we have here?"

Ahead of them, the lights spread out as they left the narrow path into a vast cavern. The walls of the caver were lined with large storage racks, most of which were empty save for a few that had rusted out and junked fighter craft still sitting on them. Vos was the first to comment the new area. "Some kind of hanger by the looks of it." Stepping up to one of the ruined craft's, he laid his hand on its surface. "Hm. Still can't get anything."

"Well, according to Mallie this place dates back to Nox's time." Kento added as he activated his lightsaber so he could have more light to examine one of the ruined starfighters. "Given that was three and a half millennia ago, I'd be more surprised if you could pick something up. Even with your powers."

As everyone spread out to examine the ruins, Nox stood in the center of the room and closed her eyes. Ever since she stepped into this place she…felt something. It almost felt like something was calling out to her. But for the life of her, she couldn't put her finger on just what it was.

"It looks like there is a path leading further in Master Nox." Hermione called out from one end of the cavern.

Shaking herself out of her stupor, she made her way over to where Hermione was standing. Nodding to the young girl, Nox conjured another sphere of light and sent it down the hall. This one looked far more secure than the one they'd just came through. And it also seemed to split off in three different directions after about twenty or thirty meters.

"We'll split into groups of three once we reach the fork." Nox called out as the other's gathered around. "Tonks, Remus and Aela. You three are each in a separate group. The tunnels look more secure, but better to err on the side of caution in this place. Try to find anything of value. Bee-bee, I want you with me. Something tells me that I'm going to need you soon."

Beeping an affirmative, BB8 rolled along at her heel as she followed her orb of light down the new tunnel. As they reached the fork, Nox let the Force guide her as she split off and took the right most path. Tonks, Hermione, Ron, Aayla and Yoda turned with her as the rest of the group split up into two more groups before heading down their respective pathways.

Her chosen path didn't last for long before it widened once more into a large cavern. Following the floating light above her head, Nox walked up a small set of partially rusted out stairs onto a large platform that was dominated by a single holo-table in its center. Placing her hand against the table, Nox felt a small surge from the Force. ' _This…this is what has been calling out to me.'_ "Bee-bee," Nox called out as the little round droid quickly rolled up one of the broken steps. "Come here and see if you can get this working again."

"I don't think he can do much." Aayla commented as she watched BB8 remove one of the lower panels and roll inside. "If this place is as old as Mallie says, then the power cores are all probably shot."

As Aayla predicted, BB8 rolled back out from under the table and started chirping away. "Seems your right. The hardware is still intact, but power cells are completely depleted." Nox frowned while pulling out her wand. She'd never tried anything this complex before…but theoretically it sure be possible.

Holding her hand in her right hand, she focused intently one what she wanted before moving her wand in a tight circle above her left hand while channeling as much power as she could into her wand. The space above her hand wavered for a moment before a brand new power cell sat in her hand. "Try this bee-bee." She said levitating the device down to BB8 who quickly grabbed it before rolling back under the table.

"Master Nox!" Hermione gasped while Ron just stared on opened mouthed. "Did you…you just made a power cell through conjuration!"

"Yes." Nox nodded slightly breathlessly, the conjuration took more out of her than she thought.

"Curious." Yoda commented stepping forward. "Used the Force to create a power cell, you did."

"I wouldn't recommend trying to copy that one." Nox said, leaning against the holo-table. That conjuration really took it out of her. "Conjuration is one of the many branches of magic that the people of Earth have studied. From a scientific standpoint, I changed the molecules of air above my palm into what I wanted. In this case a power cell."

"You can…use for Force to do that!" Aayla breathed while eyeing Nox's wand.

"Stressful, it was." Yoda said while staring at her. "And unstable. Last long, the cell shall not."

"No." Nox said shaking her head. "Nothing created with transfiguration or conjuration will last forever. It's life span depends on several factors. One, the complexity of what you created. And two, how much power you placed into it. In terms of the power cell, despite how much power that took to create, it will only last an hour or two at most." Hearing the table hum to life, Nox stood up away from the table and turned around to the control panel. "If you have further questions ask Hermione. Despite her age, she has a remarkable mind and understand magic and the Force as well as any Master you might've had in your Jedi Order."

Tuning everything out, Nox started scrolling through the flickering log in front of her. That was until she came across the last entry in the log. "That's impossible."

"Master Nox?" Ron asked slowly looking at the table with wide eyes. "Wh – what is it?"

Instead of answering though, Nox held her hand over the log title. ' _Nox. Read me now. Aedan.'_

Pressing down on the log entry, Nox took a step back as a flickering holo image of Aedan Tabris, the Battlemaster of the Jedi Order appeared above the table. _**"Hello Nox."**_ The recording said as the miralukian Jedi leaned forward. _**"I'm sure your surprised to be seeing this. In truth I'm surprised that I'm even recording this. I know Kira and Lana both think I've lost it…but during one of my meditations I had a vision of you standing before this very table and I knew, I just knew that I had to leave this for you."**_

"Bee-bee," Nox called out quickly, making the small droid rolled out from the table again. "Record this. Now."

"Recognize this man, I do." Yoda said stepping forward and staring at the hologram. "Aedan Tabris, Hero of Tython, Battlemaster of the Jedi Order, he was."

"Yes." Nox nodded. "And he was one of the few Jedi I would actually go as far to call my friend. Now be quite."

 _ **"Everything went to shit after the attack on Korriban and your supposed death."**_ Aedan continued on as his image started to flicker and his words stared breaking. _**"Found out tha – ones who attac – from a group calling themselves the Eternal Empire of Zakuul. I was captu – with Darth Marr…brought before their leader. Man – Valkorion. He is actually – eror Vitiate. I killed Vitiate – again. His son, Arcann took over command. Both Empire and Re – ic surrendered against them. Formed a – sistance against them. Vitiate as a – ost helped us with… Managed to fight for a time. Thought we won. But we were – trayed. SCORPIO took over Zakuul's droids. …d Vitiate betrayed us. Destroyed our best ship. Mana – load schematics to ships weapons. Stored in holocron. Locked in safe. You'll know where. The place where each of us said would be our second. Code is – lover. Nox…one last thing. Do not trust…Vitiate. Says…changed. But…have not. Still trying to enact the ritual. Kira, Lana, Theron and myself are going after… May the Force be with you. Goodbye."**_

Just as Aedan stopped speaking the holo-table died out as the power cell she created finally failed. "Unexpected." Yoda commented, breaking the silence that descended upon the room after the table died.

"That's one word for it." Nox shrugged as she tried to decipher the cryptic message that'd been left for her.

"Do you understand what he meant about that last part?" Aayla asked while rubbing her chin.

Frowning in concentration, Nox finally came upon the answer. And when she did she started to laugh. "Oh Aedan…only you." She laughed before turning to the others. "We need to find Aedan's bedroom. It should be close by and probably one of the larger rooms with a bed in it."

"Yes Master." Hermione and Ron both nodded before Tonks created a sphere of light and led the two kids away towards one of the side passages.

"So, are you going to let us in on the secret?" Aayla asked as she watched the three walk away.

"It comes from just after we defeated Revan on Yavin 4." Nox answered as she felt herself smile as the memory overcame her. "Aedan and his wife Kira, yes he was married so don't look too shocked, joined myself and my…Ashara for night of drinking and celebration. Kira and Ashara went down first. They actually passed out into each other's laps. Force…those photos were good blackmail material. But after five too many drinks I admitted to Aedan that he would be the second Jedi I would willing take to my bed, as Ashara was the first. And Aedan reciprocated by saying that I would be the second Sith he would ever consider taking to his bed, seeing as how his wife used to be a Child of the Emperor before she broke free. So by saying that his holocron is hidden where 'each of us said would be our second'. Means-"

"A bedroom." Yoda finished, shaking his head. "Uncivilized, Master Kenobi would say."

"You Jedi just need to get laid more often," Nox smiled as Tonks came back into the room. "What have you found?"

"We managed to find a large bedroom just down the hall." Tonks said, using her thumb to point over her shoulder. "Hopefully it's the one you're looking for cause the hallway is completely collapsed after it."

Stepping away from the holo-table Nox made for Tonks before Yoda stopped her in her tracks. "Mentioned a ritual, Master Tabris did." Yoda called out. "Know what he speaks of, you do?"

"Yes." Nox answered before continuing on her way with Yoda and Aayla flanking her on either side. "The ritual was a galactic syphon, for lack of better words. As you know when one dies they are merged with the living Force. Well, this ritual acted as syphon between the world of the living and the Force. Whenever someone died a portion of their Force presence was transferred directly to Vitiate himself. He tricked an entire world full of Sith Purebloods into sacrificing themselves in order to activate the ritual. Then he started a galactic war. He didn't care who won. He just cared about as many people dying as possible to increase his own power. His end game was to kill every living being in the galaxy. Once that happened, he would have power to become immortal."

Moving down the tunnel after Tonks, Nox continued her tale. "After we learned of this, Darth Marr and myself conspired to end the Emperor. But Aedan Tabris, along with the former Emperors Wrath Darth Scourge, fought their way onto Dromund Kaas in order to try and kill him. Seeing our opportunity, Marr and myself order as many of the security and other Sith Lords out of the city as possible. I don't think that I ever told him that the only reason he really succeeded without losing a single companion was because of the actions Marr and I took to ensure his success."

"But that's enough ancient history for the moment." Nox finished as they came upon Tonks, Ron and Hermione who were all standing outside a single room. "Despite coming back, which destroyed an entire planet, Vitiate is dead. I killed him myself less than a few years ago. Ask me later. Right now I'm curious as to what Aedan left us."

Entering the room, Nox took one look around before marching over to the large double wide bed, or at least what was left of the frame. Tearing the frame out from the floor, she flung it across the room while ignoring the alarmed cries coming from everyone else. Underneath where the bed used to be was a large safe.

Kneeling down next to the access panel, Nox smiled as it came to life as she brushed her fingertips against it. More than likely Aedan had stored several power cells with the safe to ensure that it could still be opened. "You always were thinking two steps ahead Aedan, weren't you?"

Typing in the word, ' _Ashara'_ into the panel, Nox leaned back slightly as the door swung open. The interior of the safe was empty save for two cubes and one pyramid laying within. Levitating the three holocrons out of the safe, Nox turned around and smiled at the expression on her companions faces. "The holocron of a Jedi Battlemaster that killed a Sith Emperor, twice. A holocron from a reformed Child of the Emperor. And a holocron of a Sith prodigy. Not that bad of a find for an abandoned base."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Here we go with another chapter! Just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has reviewed or alerted or add this story to your favorites.**

 **Also, seeing as how these past few weeks have been so busy for me I only had time to answer to reviewers who asked questions, but thank you to everyone who reviewed! I will strive to do a better job of getting to all of your reviews next time.**

 **Speaking of…going to answer a few reviews here that were**

 **Now onto a bit of bad news. The next few months are going to be incredibly busy for me, and in an effort to keep these chapters up at their current length (and good quality I hope) I will be moving from a weekly to a ten day to biweekly update schedule.**

 **Hope that you all enjoy this chapter! Please leave a review and let me know what you all think of it!**

 **And as always, thank you so much to my two beta's, HowInMadHowie and Dustan Xenon. Thanks for all the help you guys!**

 **Chapter 5**

Leaning against the tree he was using as a backrest, Harry stared up at the stars littering the night sky above his head while next to him a slow burning fire illuminated the small area he and Ahsoka had decided to camp for the night. Hearing a low whimper, Harry looked down to his right at where Ahsoka was curled up into a ball underneath the blanket he'd transfigured for her while she laid near the fire in an attempt to keep warm.

After deciding that they would find her a new kyber crystal, the two had meditated on the beach until nearly sundown before Ahsoka had jumped up to her feet and ran off, leaving Harry struggling to keep up with her. The two ran until well past sundown before they came upon a cave that Ahsoka entered with barely a passing glance. Deciding that this was something that she needed to do on her own, Harry waited outside of the cave for her to return. Nearly an hour later, Ahsoka emerged from the cave, a large dark green kyber crystal clutched protectively in her hands.

With Ahsoka's new kyber crystal firmly in hand, the duo set out for the ship. But after only a few minutes the day's events, and pure exhaustion for Harry, won out and they decided that it would be best to camp out for the night instead of trying to make their way through the dark. A short trip collecting sticks and a small fire spell from Harry and the two had a nice little fire going.

The next problem became fairly obvious when Ahsoka started shivering. Seeing as how conjuration was still a little bit above him, Harry had done the next best thing. He found a leaf from a tree, which coincidently was bigger than his chest, and used and enlarging charm on it before transfiguring it into a blanket. Ahsoka rewarded his efforts with a large smile before she grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around herself.

Now with their fire dying Ahsoka was starting to shiver once more. Pulling out his wand, Harry cast a warming charm onto the blanket and Ahsoka's movements ceased as she settled back into the warmth of the blanket. Putting his wand away, Harry closed his eyes again and leaned his head back against the thick tree trunk.

"What did you just do?"

Opening his eyes, he saw that Ahsoka had rolled over and she was now staring at him while clutching the blanket around her.

"Warming charm. Two guesses as to just what it does."

The corner or Ahsoka's lips turned slightly upwards. "Let me guess…hmm…it warms things?"

"Got it in one." Harry chuckled.

Sitting upright, Ahsoka kept the blanket wrapped around her as she scooted back across the ground so that she was leaning against the tree with him. "Rather inventive name."

"What can I say, we wizards and witches are a rather creative lot." Harry said, feeling himself smile widely as Ahsoka rolled her eyes and gave off a soft chuckle in response.

"I would say so." Ahsoka giggled while shaking her head. "How long until sunrise?"

"I don't know." Harry shrugged. "An hour, maybe two."

"Have you slept at all?" Ahsoka asked tilting her head slightly.

"Don't really need to sleep all that much." Harry confided, before elaborating further as Ahsoka stared at him unbelievingly. "My mother taught me how to meditatively rest. A few hours of meditation is all I need and I can got for a whole day or longer. My mother actually has it down to the point where she only needs to meditate or 'rest' for an hour a day."

Ahsoka blinked at the revelation before turning her head away from him. For a time the two sat in silence as they watched the fire slowly eat away at the few branches that were left. "Your hands are shivering." Ahsoka said abruptly before shifting slightly closer to him so there was less than a few inches between them while moving the blanket over so that the two of them were now underneath it. "Harry…what was it like?"

"What was what like?" Harry asked while trying, and failing, to keep his heart from beating out of his chest.

Biting her lip, Harry sensed a wave of nervousness pass through Ahsoka before she spoke again. "What was it like being raised by a Si– by your mother?"

Harry caught her slight slip, but decided to let it pass. "Well…it wasn't necessarily rough but it certainly wasn't easy either." Harry answered. "Mother insisted that I train or study every day. And not just in aspects of the Force, but it science, mathematics, economics, politics…you name it I probably studied it for a time. She pushed me to my limits and then showed me how to go beyond them. Sometimes things would get a little…difficult and even painful at times. But no matter what…she was always my mother first. I still remember when she finally told me the truth about the night she rescued me and my parents died. I think I cried for four or five hours straight.

"At first I thought she was going to yell at me for showing such weakness, but instead she just held me comforted me. Then when my sadness passed I felt…angry. In fact, I got so angry that I lashed out and blew out one of the walls of my room. Of course as soon as I did that I was afraid my mother would yell at me for lashing out like that. But instead…all she did was smile. She told me that I had the right to be angry over what happened. But that I needed to direct it correctly and not lash out blindly." Pausing, Harry felt a small smile come over him as he stared into the fire. "My mother raised me as her own my whole life. I wouldn't change my time with her for anything except…except maybe if my real parents could've been with us as well."

"Do you…" Ahsoka began before licking her lips. "Do you remember your real parents at all?"

"No." Harry answered before frowning. "Or…at least not exactly. I can't say that I remember their faces but I…I remember hearing my birth mother's soothing voice and being held in my father's arms. But…but that's about it. How about you? I mean, your parents."

"I – I don't remember anything about my parents. I was an orphan on my home world of Shili." Ahsoka answered quickly before continuing on much slower and with a deep sadness in her voice. "Master Plo Koon found me when I was three and brought me to the Jedi Temple and…well they've been my family ever since."

"Oh…I'm so sorry." Harry said, wincing more than slightly as he realized he'd proverbially stuck his foot in his mouth. "Have…have you heard from anyone?"

"No." Ahsoka responded. "I don't know where anyone is, let alone if they're alive save for Master Kenobi and…"

There was no need for her to name the second. Moving over just enough so that they were touching, and hated himself as he felt something familiar stir within him as he felt her lean into him slightly. _'Force damn it! Now is not the time!'_

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said any-"

"No…I need to deal with this." Ahsoka responded. "I–I can't just ignore it or suppress it. My former Master he's…he's gone."

"Maybe not completely." Harry said, drawing a sharp look from Ahsoka. "I mean, well, my mother was on the Dark Council of the Sith Empire, one of the three that practically ruled the Empire. Pretty much as Sith as you can get. And she's not really Sith anymore."

"Did your mother slaughter a room full of children without any hesitation?" Ahsoka shot back angrily while standing up and marching away from Harry. "Sorry…I–I shouldn't have used that tone. And I shouldn't have gotten angry."

"It's alright." Harry said rising to his feet and stretching his back. "Better to let it out then hold it in and let it fester. At least that's what my mother always says to me. But…Ahsoka. I can't predict what is going to happen in the future, but I promise you, if there is even a glimmer of light left in your former Master we will try and help him."

"But that's just it Harry." Ahsoka said turning around, her eyes moist with unshed tears. "Part of me wants him to come back. But another part…another part of me doesn't think he deserves the chance. I mean think of it, he slaughtered a whole room full of children! Children! He's ordered that every Jedi that is captured be tortured…including me. And even if he does come back to the light what are we supposed to do? Pretend that he didn't do everything he did? I–I just don't know Harry."

Looking up at the sky, Harry noticed that the stars were starting to fade as the sky was beginning to brighten. "We'll figure it out Ahsoka." Harry said, trying to sound reassuring. "And at least we have the time to do so. But right now, the sun's rising, so let's start heading back for the ship. I'm sure we're already going to have to endure quite a bit of teasing from Daphne, Susan and Ginny. Let alone what Tonks will probably be saying. No reason to give those four anymore reason to tease us."

Ahsoka gave him a curious look, almost like she wasn't sure just what he was implying. But soon enough her cheeks started to color as she worked out just what he'd meant.

Pulling out his wand, Harry cast an aguamenti spell at the fire, making sure to drench every last ember before cancelling the spell.

"How does that work Harry?" Ahsoka asked as she watched him put his wand away. "I could feel the Force, but it felt different than when you…transfigured? Yes when you transfigured this leaf into a blanket. Instead of just creating water, are you condensing the water molecules that are already present in a gaseous state into their liquid state by cooling the air around your wand and encouraging the hydrogen bonding between the water molecules? And if so, does that mean that you can't use that particular spell in an area where there are no water molecules or where they are extremely scarce like in a desert or in space?" Ahsoka stopped when Harry was giving her a curious look. "What?"

Harry looked at Ahsoka and half wondered if she had been around Hermione too much. Slowly felt himself smile as the two walked away from their makeshift campsite. "You're on the right track. I guess in theory it does both. It condenses the water in a selected area, but at the same time it is also conjuring water. And just like in all conjurations it isn't permanent so it isn't suggested that you drink the water that you straight up conjure, but I guess that if you're just pulling together the water from the air then it would be completely different story."

* * *

Sitting down at a large conjured table, courtesy of Remus and herself, just outside of the two parked ships and abandoned military base, Nox watched as Daphne and Susan began assembling their own lightsabers under the guidance of Ahsoka while Harry and the other kids, including Nat and Galen, watched on. Despite Daphne and Susan already having a lightsaber, Nox wanted the girls to forge their own lightsabers so they could truly understand the importance of it. And until they were needed, the lightsabers of Grandmaster Shan and Darth Marr would be put into a secure location.

While the younger generation were all busy assembling, or watching, their new lightsabers, Nox found herself sitting at a newly conjured table, courtesy of herself and Remus, with the older generation discussing what they were their next move was going to be.

"Unfortunately we don't have the time." Remus said, forcing Nox to refocus her attention back to the topic at hand, collecting more of the scattered Jedi. "The kids are still in the process of learning. And on our planet the kids learn for nine months of the year and then take three months off. And if they're not back in time for the start of school, then more than a few questions are going to be raised. Questions I doubt that we're ready to fully answer."

"Then it's a good thing we have two ships now, isn't it?" Nox stated drawing everyone's attention. "The _Wind_ will go out and search for more Jedi that are willing to join with us, while the Ashara continues on to Earth."

"No one flies my ship but me." Asajj countered quickly before anyone could say anything. "And since when did I volunteer my ship to go collecting strays?"

"Come on babe, it's not like we were doing anything else at the moment." Quinlan countered with a smile. "But there's the issue of space within the ship to deal with first and foremost. Asajj and I fit comfortably within the ship and we might be able to squeeze in two or three others. But after that we simply wouldn't have the room."

"That's why you'll be taking our two extra tents that we have stowed away in the _Ashara_." Nox countered back. "They will take up probably less than a quarter of a cabin and will create enough room within your ship to fit at least eight or more. Also, we will be modifying the _Wind_ with several runic arrays just like those onboard the _Ashara_."

"For the benefit of those who haven't been with you terribly long, what are runic arrays?" Quinlan asked while leaning forward so his elbows were resting against the table and his chin was being held in his hands.

"Think of them as extra protections for your ship." Remus answered. "The _Ashara_ is equipped with a disillusionment rune, an unplottable rune and a cooling rune which we've proven pretty much makes the ship invisible to almost all forms of radar or sensors. We've also placed a shielding rune and a strengthening rune which add several layers of protection onto the ship. With all of us working together we should be able to replicate the runic scheme on the Wind in a day or two…but the problem will be keeping them charged. No offense to Aayla and Ahsoka, but even after nearly two weeks they still aren't able to correctly charge a rune, let alone a complicated runic array like the one we are talking about here."

"Well it's a good thing that you and Aela just volunteered to go along with them then." Nox replied smirking.

"Right." Remus replied nodding along until what she'd just said finally sunk in. "Wait! We're going to do what?"

"You made several good points Remus." Nox continued while leaning back in her seat and smiling at the flabbergasted expression across Remus's face. "You'll be needed to charge the runic arrays on board the ship as well as to operate it. Let alone if something goes wrong. Plus, are you really going to turn down the chance to spend a few more months exploring the galaxy? Seeing sights that no one on Earth ever imagined possible? Not to mention only you and Aela know where to find Earth."

Casting a quick look towards Aela, who nodded in return, Remus sighed. "Alright…Madam Ventress, Master Vos. If you two will have us Aela and I would be honored to travel with you."

"Madam?" Vos laughed before turning towards Asajj and shooting the woman a half grin. "I think that's a new one for you babe."

With a flick of her wrist, Asajj had her lightsaber out, activated and pointed right at Vos. "Careful Vos…I know where you sleep."

For his part, Quinlan didn't even seem to mind that his lover was holding a lightsaber inches from his face. "Yeah it's usually cozied up right next to you while we're both-"

"We really don't need to know the details of your love life Master Vos." Aayla cut in quickly before sighing.

"Aw, but I have so many good stories that-"

"One more word Vos." Asajj growled lowering the tip of her lightsaber to somewhere more…sensitive on Quinlan's body. "And I _will_ rearrange your anatomy."

"Okay, okay! I surrender!" Quinlan laughed holding his hands up. "I guess the four of us are going hunting then. Anyone have any ideas about where we should start?"

"Tatooine."

As one, everyone sitting at the makeshift table turned towards the new voice. Standing just a few feet behind her was Ahsoka with Harry standing by her side. "Sorry," Ahsoka mumbled. "Didn't meant to in-"

"You're fine." Nox said cutting her off with a wave. "You lot have as much a say in what is about to happen as the rest of us. And…Tatooine…that is where this Master Kenobi is supposed to be isn't it?"

"Yeah." Quinlan nodded. "Kenobi's a legend with the Order. Having him on our side will help us bring in some of the more stubborn Jedi. Only thing I don't understand is why he went to Tatooine of all places. I mean…it's the ass end of nowhere so it's a good place to hide. But Kenobi was never one for warmer climates."

Everyone turned back around as Yoda hummed. "Before begin my search for you, tasked Master Kenobi I did. Guarding one of the last remnants of Anakin Skywalker's light, he is."

"One of his last remnants of light?" Nox questioned leaning forward and staring at the diminutive Jedi Master. "What kind of remnant are you talking about?"

"His son."

One could've heard a pin drop on the grass with how quiet the valley became after those two words from the small Jedi. Even the native insects stopped making any noise.

"Run that past us one more time." Nox more or less demanded as she glared at the Jedi Master. "This Master Kenobi is guarding who?"

Closing his eyes, Yoda let out a long hum. "A son, Anakin Skywalker has. Strong in the Force, like his father he is. Tasked Master Kenobi with keeping him safe from the clutches of Darth Vader, I have."

"Sky-guy has…a son?" Ahsoka breathed looking completely bewildered. "But– Padme. But…I heard she died."

"Passed on into the Force she has," Yoda confirmed sadly. "The fall of Skywalker…destroyed her, it did. But before she passed onto the Force, gave birth to the children of Skywalker she did."

"Skywalker has a son?" Aayla breathed, half questioningly. "Force…Skywalker by himself was a force to be reckoned with. If the son anywhere near as powerful as his father…if Vader finds him they could become unstoppable."

"But that isn't the only reason that you had this Master Kenobi take him into hiding." Nox added while giving Yoda a sly smile. "I dare say my Jedi friend…your cunning is equal to just about any Sith I know. You're not only going to hide Skywalker's son; you're going to train him to be a Jedi with final hope being that he will confront Darth Vader. And Vader, realizing he is his son, won't kill him. And you're hoping that in that moment of hesitation this son will either be able to defeat Vader, or bring him back to 'the light'. Quite ingenious."

Yoda continued to stare at her for a few long moments before he sighed and looked away. "Yes…"

"Don't take my words as condemning your actions Yoda." Nox added quickly before any of Jedi could express their 'opinions' as to his plan. "I actually wholeheartedly agree with your course of action. It was the best option you had at the time. And seeing as how you willingly brought him up, I take it you want him to be trained in the ways of the Force from us. Not as a Jedi."

Lowering his eyes, Yoda let out a sigh. "Saw it, I did. Powerful, Guardian he will become. Help to bring true balance to the Force, he will."

"Well then," Nox said as everyone sat staring at Yoda's proclamation. "I guess our path is set. Remus, Aela and Tonks. Start retrofitting the Howling Wind with runic arrays. Give it everything you can over the next two days."

"Right." Remus nodded as he, Aela and Tonks rose from the table.

Asajj was right behind them in rising to her feet. "You three are not doing anything to my ship without me watching."

"Good." Aela nodded before walking away from the table and motioning for the former Sith acolyte to follow her. "Then come along. Hope you're good at on the job training. Because we have a lot of work to do and only a day or two to get it done."

As Nox watched the group of four walk away, something Yoda had said finally clicked in her head. "You said 'one of his last remnants'." Nox said turning back around to face Yoda. "And 'children'. As in plural."

"Yes." Yoda nodded.

"Two?" Ahsoka breathed. "Padme had twins?"

"Yes." Yoda said continuing his slow nod. "Entrusted the daughter to Bail Organa, I did."

"Organa?" Nox echoed before laughing to herself. "Oh…the Force truly does have a sick sense of humor. I can't believe that pompous stick up the ass noble family from Alderaan is still around and kicking."

"Many of us owe our lives to Bail Organa." Aayla retorted while narrowing her eyes. "He was instrumental during the war with many diplomatic and supply missions."

"Oh I don't doubt that." Nox replied quickly, waving off Aayla's hostility. "The Organa's have always been partial to the Jedi Order and the suffering of others. And, judging by your reactions, they haven't changed much. Which will place them right in this new Emperor's line of sight as a potential threat to his rule. Tell me, is the daughter anywhere near the level of her brother or father?"

"No." Yoda replied shaking his head. "Her potential with the Force, limited at best it is."

"Good." Nox nodded, licking her lips slightly.

"Good?" Ahsoka questioned coming around so she could face her. "Why is that good?"

"Because if this Bail Organa is as big a proponent of the Jedi as you say, then the odds are good that the Emperor is now keeping a close watch on him." Nox explained. "And not only him, but his family as well. And if so, then the odds are good that we won't be able to spirit the daughter away without alerting the Emperor or causing harm to this Organa or his people. But if her Force sensitivity is as minimal as you say, then we will be able to leave her to grow in complete anonymity."

"And how do you know that the Emperor will be keeping a watch on Senator Organa or his family?" Quinlan asked.

Nox merely shrugged. "Because it's what I would do if I were in his position. Now, will this Master Kenobi have a means of contacting Organa from range?"

"Find a way, Master Kenobi will." Yoda nodded.

"Good," Nox nodded before turning to Quinlan. "So now your mission has become twofold. Find this Master Kenobi and his charge and convince them to come to Earth. Second, contact this Senator Organa. If you can collect the daughter without raising suspicion, then do so. If not, then leave her to raise by the Senator."

Tilting his head off to the side, Quinlan cast a quick glance towards Yoda, who gave the briefest of nods in return. _'They still don't trust me, at least not fully. Understandable I guess, given the circumstances and my past. I would be more suspicious if they trusted me blindly.'_

"Alright." Quinlan nodded before rising to his feet and casting a glance towards the Wind. "I best go and make sure those three don't do anything to piss Asajj off. She can be a little touchy about some things."

Once Quinlan had left, Nox noticed that Kento and Mallie were staring at something behind her. Turning around in her seat she saw that her two apprentices, Daphne and Susan, were both standing just behind her while the rest of her Guardian acolytes were fanned out behind them.

"So I take it that you two have finished then?" She asked, to which both of her apprentices, no, former apprentices, nodded. "Good, then let us see. You as well Ahsoka."

Stepping up first, Daphne held her new saberstaff out at arm's length. The long cylinder was slightly shorter and was missing the intricate carvings that'd made Grandmaster Shan's lightsaber unique, but Daphne had compensated. The center of the hilt was clear, no doubt she'd either charmed or transfigured the metal to make it clear, and was displaying the crystal clear kyber crystal for all to see. When she activated the lightsaber, two identical white beams came out from either emitter and the crystal in the center glowed ever so slightly.

"Beautiful." Nox remarked as she stood and held out her hand, to which Daphne instantly handed over her lightsaber without question.

The lightsaber was perfectly balanced. And as far as Nox could tell, it was built flawlessly. "This weapon is now a part of you Daphne Greengrass." Nox said with as much ceremony as she could muster. "It is a part of you as much as your own heart. It is your life. It is a symbol of your commitment. And it is your symbol that you are ready to take on the title of Guardian Knight."

"Thank you, Master." Daphne responded, bowing deeply as Nox deactivated the lightsaber and handed it back to her former apprentice.

Nodding, Nox then turned her attention to Susan. "Susan."

Licking her lips, Susan held out her new lightsaber. It wasn't necessarily as fancy as Daphne's, not that Nox necessarily expected it to be so. Susan was always the more…practical of the two of them. But her curved lightsaber hilt was definitely well made. With a snap-hiss a dark orange blade extended from the emitter. "Well done." Nox remarked taking the weapon from Susan and going through a few stances to test the blade before handing it back to Susan. "This weapon is now a part of you, Susan Bones. As much as your own heart. It is your life. It is your symbol of your commitment. And it is your symbol that you are ready to take on the title of Guardian Knight."

Taking her lightsaber, Susan bowed deeply while a wide smile spread across her face. "Thank you, Master."

Smiling at the girl in return, Nox turned towards Harry. "My son…seeing as how I'm going all ceremonial on the girls here, we might as well make it official for you as well."

With a slight nod of his head, Harry stepped forward and brought forth his lightsaber from its sheath before holding it out from her to take. The hilt was slightly heavier than either Daphne's or Susan's. But given just what this lightsaber was capable of that wasn't really too much of a surprise.

Even though Nox had already seen her son's lightsaber in full, she still couldn't help but marvel at the black-purple blade as she activated it. Taking her time, she went through all three phases of the lightsaber while moving the blade around in a series of blocks and strikes. "Very well done my son." Nox smiled, her voice suddenly faltering slightly. "You've exceeded every expectation I've have had, and I am beyond proud to call you my son."

"Thank you…mother." Harry smiled back as he took his lightsaber back from her.

Drawing herself to her full height, Nox did her best to keep her voice steady. "Harry Potter…this weapon is now a part of you as much as your own beating heart. It is your life. It is the symbol of your commitment. And it is your symbol that you are now a full-fledged Guardian Knight."

"Thank you, Master…mother." Harry responded, his own voice thick with emotion as he bowed to her.

Smiling down at her son, Nox forced herself to move her gaze. "Ahsoka Tano." Nox called out, surprising the young togruta. "May I have the honor of inspecting your lightsaber?"

Ahsoka stared at her for a moment before staring down the newly constructed lightsaber that was in her hand. Nox could almost see the inner debate going on within the young woman's head. After several long moments, Ahsoka held out her lightsaber.

"Thank you." Nox said graciously as she gently took the hilt. Turning it over in her hands a few times, Nox made a show of inspecting the blade before holding it off to her side and activating it. As the darkish green blade came to life, Nox had to suppress the amusement that threatened to bubble out of her. The coloring was almost an exact match to her son's eyes. _'Well…if that isn't the prediction of the millennia.'_

"You have endured trials that are almost beyond imaging, Ahsoka Tano." Nox finally said as she deactivated the lightsaber before holding it out for Ahsoka to take once again. "Should you accept it, I will gladly bestow upon you the title of Guardian Knight."

Ahsoka stared at her completely dumbstruck by Nox's proclamation. "Wh– what does that mean?"

"It means exactly what it sounds like." Nox smiled as Ahsoka took her lightsaber back. "I hereby grant you the title of Knight within the Order of the Guardians. It is comparable to the rank of Knight within the old Jedi Order. That is if you accept the title of course."

Holding her lightsaber, Ahsoka cast a quick look back at the group of kids behind her before shifting her gaze to the Jedi that were with them before finally bringing her eyes back around to Nox. Even before she said anything, Nox already knew the girls answer. She could see it in her eyes. "I accept…Master Nox."

"Splendid." Nox smiled as she felt the Force hum with delight. _'Force…light the cigarette already! Although by this point I'm pretty sure you've qualified for the whole damn pack. I can tell that you're pleased!'_

Turning around to the Jedi, Nox had to stop herself from laughing at the expressions on their faces. Apparently the mixture of her proclamations, Ahsoka's quick acceptance and the slight feeling of contentment from the Force was too much for them. Only Master Yoda seemed to be unperturbed by what just happened. "I guess, despite the amount of shit you four, well six if you include Asajj and Quinlan, still have to learn that you can all consider yourselves Masters within the Guardian Order. That is of course if you accept."

The four Jedi all looked back and forth between one another. "Well…I don't know about Master Secura or Master Yoda." Kento began as he reached out and took hold of Mallie's hand. "But Mallie and I left the Jedi Order some time ago. And we've already decided that if you're willing to accept us as we are, as one…then we would gladly be part of your Order of Guardians."

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Nox smiled before turning to the last two Jedi.

Aayla spared Yoda one last glance before licking her lips and turning towards Nox. "I made my decision the day you showed us your memories Nox. I'm with you."

That left only Yoda. The small former-Grand Master of the Jedi looked around at each of them before sighing. "Nine-hundred years old I am. Too old I am…to truly change. Aid you, I shall. Learn from you, I shall. But join your Order…I cannot."

"Master Yoda!" Aayla gasped turning to the small Jedi. "What are saying?"

Humming, Yoda closed his eyes. "Evolved, changed the Sith have. Failed to evolve with them, the Jedi have. Part of the old, I am. Saw it, I did. For the Force to find balance, evolve into Guardians the Jedi must. Hold you back only…I will." Opening his eyes, Yoda hopped down off of his seat and slowly made his way over towards Nox. "Aid you, I shall. Help you teach the younglings, share what I know, I shall. Learn with you all I will. But join you…I cannot."

"I understand." Nox said quickly before any of the Jedi present could protest. "It took quite a bit of courage to admit what you just did, Master Yoda. And I would be a fool to turn down someone of your caliber. You are more than welcome to join just Master Yoda…provided you keep an open mind about certain aspects of my teaching."

With the barest of nods, Yoda continued on past her and back towards the ship _. 'No doubt to meditate about what just happened._ ' "Well then, now that we have all of that out of the way I believe that we can move onto our next order of business."

"And what business is that?" Mallie asked as she picked Galen up into her arms.

Motioning with her hand, Nox pointed to each of the Acolytes present. "We have eight Acolytes with us. Ginny, Hermione, Luna, Tracey, Hannah, Ron, Astoria and even little Nat. And there are four Knights and four Master's here as well."

Aayla's eyes widened as she caught onto where Nox was heading. "But – but they are so young!" Aayla protested pointing towards the newly christened 'Knights'.

"Perhaps." Nox agreed. "But the best way to learn is to teach. And Ginny has already been Harry's apprentice for nearly two years now and she is, as all of you can tell, excelling as is Harry. Plus, as of late I've learned to let go of conventional lines of thought and trust in the Force. We have eight Acolytes and eight people capable of teaching them. Nothing happens by accident. This was always meant to be." Turning back to Daphne, Susan and Ahsoka she motioned for the three girls to come closer. "Now I want you three to meditate on who your apprentice will be. Don't try and guide the Force. Let it guide you to the answer."

Nodding, all three girls got down onto their knees and closed their eyes as the rest of the Acolytes lined up in front of them. Nox could almost feel the Force radiating off of the three girls as they sunk into a deep meditation. And they weren't the only ones either she realized after a few quiet moments. _'Good, they catch on quick.'_

Daphne was the first to move, her right arm rising until she was pointing directly at one of the Acolytes. "Luna Lovegood. You are my Apprentice."

Luna beamed as she skipped, quite literally, over to Daphne and took up her position just behind Daphne and facing the other Acolytes. Astoria looked more than slightly put out over being passed over by her sister, but she quickly hid her displeasure as Susan's arm started to rise as well. "Hermione Granger. You are my Apprentice."

For her part, Hermione looked like she was just about to faint from relief as she walked across the small space separating them so she too could stand behind her new Master.

Lastly, Ahsoka raised her arm as well. "Nat…you are my Apprentice."

Nat, while still not fully understanding Basic or English, beamed as understood what had just transpired and made her way while the rest of the Acolytes let out a sigh of disappointment. "Do not despair Acolytes." Nox said with a knowing smirk as she stepped forward. "You might not be Apprentice to any of our newly christened Knights, but you will still be apprenticed."

At her signal, the four elder Force sensitives came around the table and stood before the remaining four Acolytes. With only a glance at one another, the four adults stepped forward until they were each standing in front of one of the remaining Acolytes. Kento was standing in front of Ron. Mallie in front of Hannah. Aayla in front of Tracey. And Nox herself stood before a nearly shaking Astoria.

"Astoria Greengrass." Nox said as Astoria looked up at her while nearly shaking with both fear and excitement. "Just like your sister before you, I name you as my Apprentice."

Astoria was positively beaming as she looked up at her. "I will do my best to live up to my sister, Master."

Two days later the runic arrays had been successfully installed onboard the Howling Wind. And Nox found herself standing beside her son and the rest of the group that would be heading back to Earth as the ones that would be heading deeper into the galaxy said their goodbyes.

Well…everyone save for Asajj that is, who begged off the farewell party by claiming the ship still needed to be checked out before they left. Nox had a feeling that the former-Sith Acolyte was still uneasy with the fact that she working with so many Jedi. And judging by the off glances both Ahsoka and Aayla shot the former Sith whenever she wasn't looking, the feeling was mutual.

"Be sure to keep the mutt out of trouble Harry." Remus was saying as he tussled Harry's hair.

"I don't even think that Amelia can keep him out of trouble." Harry smiled back, although Nox could tell it was somewhat forced. "But…I'll try my best while I'm around."

"Good." Remus smile slightly feel as his hand migrated down from Harry's hair to his shoulder. "And you take care of yourself as well pup."

"You too Remus." Harry said back before he closed the gap between them and pulled Remus into a quick hug. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Remus threw his head back and laughed at that. "Coming from the boy who assaulted a dreadnought full of soldiers without even blinking and has a proverbial coven of beautiful witches at his beck and call? I think that gives me a fair bit of leeway don't you?"

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up." Harry shot back while laughing. "Just…come home Remus."

Sobering up, Remus nodded. "I plan on it pup." He said giving Harry's shoulder one last squeeze before turning to Nox. "Madam Nox."

"Take care of yourself Remus." Nox said, surprised as she realized that it wasn't an empty platitude. She actually meant it. She'd actually grown quite fond of the man. "Don't let them take any unnecessary risks. And come back as soon as you are able to do so."

"Yes ma'am." Remus smiled while saluting her.

Allowing herself to smile slightly at his antics, Nox reached into the folds of her robes and pulled out small data crystal. "This contains the only map, outside of the one within the Ashara, to Earth. Above all else Remus…this map cannot fall into the wrong hands."

"I understand," Remus said solemnly before taking the small data crystal and putting into one of the many pockets lining his robes. "I swear to you, no one will get their hands on this map."

Less than ten minutes later, the ramp to the Howling Wind was receding into the ship as it slowly lifted up off the ground and flew up towards the sky. Reaching out, Nox placed her arm around Harry as the group watched the Howling Wind slowly lift up and disappear from view.

"He'll be fine son." Nox said comfortingly.

"I know." Harry nodded while tearing his eyes away from the rapidly disappearing ship. "He's always been the most responsible one of us."

"Yup." Nox nodded back while smiling. "Now come on, let's pack this place up and head home. We've been gone for far too long."

* * *

Rolling over in her 'far too comfortable for its own good' mattress, Ahsoka grudgingly admitted that it was far past time for her to get up. Master Nox, while more easygoing than most of the Jedi Masters she'd seen before, was a taskmaster on par with any Jedi in history!

The past two days since leaving Odessen her life had pretty much followed a set routine that'd been laid out for her by Master Nox. Wake up. Ship duties, be they either maintenance, flying or cleaning. Force training. Which included saber training, meditation and Force exercises. She was also continuing her 'magical education', as Master Nox called it. She'd had no problem with learning the new ways to manipulate the Force back on Odessen, but that was mainly because Master Nox, Remus, Aela and Tonks constantly gave them practical demonstrations. Which suited Ahsoka just perfectly seeing as how she was a hands on learner.

However now that they were short both Remus and Aela, and the fact that they were stuck on board a ship where the demonstration of magic wasn't necessarily the best of all ideas, Ahsoka was stuck trying to learn by reading. Which again wouldn't have been too bad if some of the books weren't quite so…quirky.

The first book she picked up to read…she couldn't. Despite having a fairly good understanding of the English language, thanks to it being remarkably similar to Basic and Jedi learning techniques, she could read the words just fine. But within the book they were all…jumbled together and didn't make any sense! That was of course until Luna came by as she was getting ready to throw the book across the room and calmly explained to her that Ahsoka had to be lying her back with her right leg crossed over her left in order to read the book she was holding.

At first Ahsoka had been positive that Luna was having one over on her. But after ten more minutes of trying, and failing, to read the book while Luna watched on Ahsoka gave up and laid down just as Luna had told her to do so. And to her utter amazement…she felt a slight shift in the Force as the words within the book seemed to rearrange themselves before her very eyes. Luna then smiled at her and said that certain books only like to be read in certain ways before skipping away from her.

All the ship duties and studying, no matter how strange it was, she could handle. Even the studying she could handle…even though she felt like a fool trying to read through some of the books. But it was her newest responsibility that she was still trying to adjust too. And that was having a Pada– Apprentice.

That wasn't to say that Nat was difficult, quite the opposite in fact. Nat was attentive, quick to pick up on things and with how quickly she was picking up both English and Basic becoming easier to communicate with each day. When Ahsoka thought back to all of the trouble that she put Master Skywalker through…she thanked her ancestors that she didn't have a P– Apprentice like her!

With a groan she pushed herself up out of her bed and looked around the room she shared with Mas– Aayla. _'Force…nearly two weeks and I'm still having trouble calling her anything but Master Secura! Although…technically she is a Master once again. So should I start calling her Master again?_ ' Aayla's bed was, predictably enough, empty. As was Nat's. The rutian Jedi was more than likely already up and on either her second or third book of the day. Ahsoka swore, between Aayla, Mallie and Master Yoda the three must've read every piece of literature on board the ship!

Dressing herself, Ahsoka took a moment to crack her back and neck before stepping out into the main room of the tent. The moment she did, her midriff was impacted by a small green blur. "Good…morning Master!" Nat smiled up at her.

"Good morning Nat." Ahsoka smiled back, the little girl could make anyone smile. She even got Master Nox more than one. "How are you this morning?"

"Good." Nat responded back hesitantly in English, which was a benefit to the both of them as they were both trying to learn the language together. "Are you…ready for…today?"

Ahsoka licked her lips and nodded her affirmative. Master Nox made everyone get a decent amount of sleep the previous cycle, claiming that she had a surprise in store for everyone and that they would all need to save up their strength. "Yes." She said, pulling back from her apprentice. "Are you?"

"Yes." Nat nodded, grinning widely. "Let's…umm…go!"

Taking a hold of Nat's hand, she led them out of the tent they shared with the Mareks and out into the ship's cabin. As they stepped out, Ahsoka immediately smelled something…wonderful. Glancing to her left, she spied the two other tents that were tucked away in the cabin with hers. One tent belonged to the other girls from Earth. And the other, the one with the incredible smells coming from it, belonged to Harry and Ron.

Moving over to the tent flap, she carefully moved it aside and poked her head in. Of course before she could actually see anything, Nat shoulder her way past her while screaming, "Yay! Harry's cooking again!"

"Nat!" Ahsoka cried, reaching out for only to stop as she finally got a good look inside the tent. It looked much like the one she was in. The only difference was that this one had a larger kitchen. A kitchen in which Harry was currently working in while Ginny sat in one of the stools next the bar that surrounded the kitchen.

"Hey Nat." Harry smiled, turning around. "And Ahsoka. How are you two doing? Want some breakfast…I um…think I may have made too much."

"That's an understatement." Ginny laughed as she helped Nat up onto the stool next to her while Ahsoka made her way across the tent. "You need to remember Harry; we can't all eat like my brother."

Smiling, Harry grabbed a few trays out of the cupboard next to him before moving back to the stove. Just as Ahsoka was settled herself into the stool next to Nat, Harry laid out three trays full of the same type of morning food she'd been eating ever since she'd been rescued.

"Thank you!" Nat cried out before picking up her spoon digging into the food with gusto.

"…well maybe there is a rival for my brother's legendary appetite." Ginny laughed as she watched Nat eat.

"I don't know. I think your brother might still have the edge due to his size." Ahsoka smiled as she picked up one of the pieces of meat and taking a bite. "So…do either of you know what Master Nox has planned for us today?"

She figured that if anyone would know, it had to be Harry. But unfortunately, Harry just shook his head as he began eating his own meal. "Unfortunately no. She's been really secretive about the whole thing. It's actually kind of…strange actually. She's never usually this secretive about things."

The rest of their meal was spent in silence as the four of them ate. When the last of the food was gone, Harry quickly picked up each tray and placed them into the sink. "You know Harry," Ginny called out while shooting a wink towards Ahsoka. "You're powerful, rich, handsome and you can cook. Give it another year or two and the witches are going to be lining up around the block to get into your pants."

Harry missed a step and nearly dropped the trays he was carrying and Ahsoka felt something in her skip, and she had the sudden urge to go hide when Ginny sent another wink towards her. _'Force…what is wrong with me! He's younger than you Ahsoka! Get over it! And…well he's only two years younger or so and soon that won't really m– stop!'_

"Merlin Ginny! You sound just like Sirius!" Harry laughed while wiping his hands off.

Feeling a light tug on her arm, Ahsoka looked down to see Nat staring up at her with big eyes. "Master…why would anyone…um…want to get into um...someone's…pans? And who sounds serious?"

Ahsoka felt her face heat up instantly and she shot a glare towards Ginny, who was trying and failing to hold in her laughter. 'Oh Force…I am not going to explain this to an eight-year-old!' "Well…uh…you see it has too…"

"It's something that will become clear to you in time Nat." Harry said, coming to her rescue. "Don't worry about it too much. And as for Sirius. He's my godfather."

"Godfather?" Ahsoka asked, not quite understanding the meaning of the word.

"Um, well how do I explain this?" Harry winced rubbing the back of his head. "Sirius was my father's best friend. When I was born, my parents, my birth parents that is, basically named him as my second father. If anything were to happen to them, he was supposed to take care of me."

"Then why didn't he?" Ahsoka asked, and then instantly wanted to kick herself as she saw Ginny wince and the corners of Harry's eyes tighten. "Sorry. If it's a painful subject-"

"No. It's fine." Harry breathed placing his hands on the bar. "My parents were betrayed by another of their friends, Peter Pettigrew. The little rat led the Dark Lord right to their hiding place. The rat ran off when my mother showed up. Then he disappeared. Without him, everyone assumed that Sirius, because of who his family was, was the one who betrayed my parents to the Dark Lord. He spent months in prison before they finally dragged him out to face trial. And by the time he was finally cleared, my mother and I were already on the other side of the world."

"Oh," Ahsoka said. "I'm sorry."

Waving her concerns off, Harry moved around the bar. "It's all ancient history now. Sort of. The _rat_ had been behind bars until roughly a year ago when he escaped. But one day I'll find that rat and pay him in full for everything he's done. Now come on, let's go. My mother isn't someone you want to keep waiting."

Ahsoka wasn't quite sure what to make of that last comment from Harry. Revenge wasn't the Jedi way, but then again…she was a Guardian Knight now. Not a Jedi. And plus…if this Peter person really did everything Harry said, leading a Dark Lord to kill his parents and then basically framing someone else for his crime…then maybe Harry was in the right. Force only knew that Sky-guy was known for his bouts of seeking justice, but then again…Sky-guy fell to the dark side and– 'Stop it Ahsoka! Harry isn't Sky-guy! Plus…you're not going to let him fall! Wait…that umm…oh never mind. I need to stop thinking about this!'

Following Harry out of the tent, Ahsoka grimaced as they arrived in the galley only to discover they were the last ones there. Even Master Yoda had left his meditation and was now sitting with both Master Mareks. The only one not present was Tonks, but Ahsoka was pretty sure that the young woman was currently behind the controls of the ship.

"Good, now everyone is here." Master Nox said motioning for them to find a spot to stand in the already fairly crowded room. "Now then, seeing as how you newcomers now have a basic understanding of magic and we have eight to ten more days until we reach Earth I figure we can begin training on a certain form of wandless magic."

"Wandless magic?" Hermione repeated intently while leaning forward and giving Master Nox her undivided attention.

"Yes." Nox nodded. "Watch and learn."

If Ahsoka hadn't seen it before…she would've denied what happened next even happened! But before her very eyes…Madam Nox's body wavered and shifted. Within the time it took one to blink Ziri Nox was gone. And in her place was two-meter-tall and four-meter-long dire-cat!

"Bloody hell!" Someone cried, and Ahsoka, still not completely understanding the meaning of the phrase, agreed with the sentiment.

"Hmm, most curious." Master Yoda said as he hobbled over to the massive dire-cat. "Illusion this is not. Changed your shape you have. Yet your mind…hmmm…still your own it is."

The dire-cat's form rippled and once again it was Master Nox who was standing before them all. "Mother." Harry breathed, clearly just as surprised as everyone else in the room. "You're an animagus? Since when?"

"Nearly a year now Harry." Master Nox replied while shooting her soon an amused glance. "I'm actually a little surprised you didn't sense the difference in me right away."

"I'm curious." Mallie spoke up while Harry was still sputtering. "I've done extensive reading on this fascinating subject of transfiguration. With it, one can use the Force to change an inanimate object into another inanimate or an inanimate to animate or animate to inanimate and animate into another animate. However animate to animate has a drawback in that the mind of the individual will become that which it is changed into. So…how did you keep your mind? A normal dire-cat, especially one of that size, would've attacked all of us in a second for being in its den."

"It's because Master Nox is an animagus." Hermione explained. "It's a special branch of magic that can be considered one of the few true branches of wandless magic. With it, one learns to change into a single animal and can keep their mind while transformed. And unlike normal transfiguration, an animagus isn't limited to the wizard or witches power. An animagus can make the transformation permanent if they so choose too."

"Well said Hermione." Master Nox said before pulling out her wand and making a tight circle with it. A large tray appeared floating in mid-air. On top of the tray were nearly two dozen small glass vials. "Now becoming an animagus is a two-step process. The first is to get in touch with your inner beast, so to speak. And the second is to learn how to shift you form by manipulating the magic, or Force, within you. This vial here, is how we are going to complete the first step."

"We're all going to become animagus!?" Ron cried out excitedly. "Wicked!"

The tray began moving on its own, stopping in front of each person, even Nat, so they could take a vial before continuing on its way. "What is this?" Ahsoka asked as she held up the vial to her eye. The inside was filled with some sort of black viscous fluid that didn't look appetizing in the least.

"It's a potion." Nox shrugged as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "It will help you get in touch with your 'inner beast', so to speak. You simply drink it, then enter a deep state of mediation. You'll enter a dream like state where you will actually be your inner animal and at the end you'll catch a glimpse of just what your animal is. And once you know what your animal is, we'll begin the process of actually transforming your body into the animal."

Looking down at the vial in her hand, Ahsoka felt a wave of excitement course through her. 'With this…I can learn how to change into an animal?' She remembered all too well just how useful the ability was during her time on Mortis. If she could learn how to do it as well…

Looking around she noticed that everyone was eyeing the vials with the same type of awe. Well, everyone save for two that was. Master Yoda was eyeing the vial tentatively, but Ahsoka could tell he was more than slightly curious. But Master Secura…she looked like she wanted nothing to do with it. "Is there another way?" Aayla asked while setting the vial down on the table just behind her. "I've had…some really bad experiences with things like this in the past."

Ahsoka winced. _'Of course…the whole glitteryll incident where she lost all of her memories and her sense of self. Given her past…I understand just why she would be hesitant to drink something that sounds basically like a hallucinogen.'_

Master Nox must've picked up on something, because she took a step towards Aayla and picked up her vial. "Something happened to you, something involving some type of hallucinogen, am I right? That's why you're afraid."

"I'm not scared!" Aayla snapped back. "And it's none of your damn business."

Ahsoka was quite honestly shocked. She'd never seen Master Secura act like this before. Even Master Yoda seemed a little surprised by her reaction. At least she took the slight raising of his eyebrows as surprise as she'd never actually seen him caught off guard before. Master Nox however seemed to be completely non-repulsed by her reaction. "Yes you are. You forget, I was Sith."

"And fear was your weapon." Aayla bit back. "What's your point?"

"No point." Master Nox shrugged. "Just letting you know that you can't hide the fact that you're afraid from me. But I will tell you this." Nox took a step towards Aayla, making the former Jedi Master take a step back in response. "If you allow this fear of yours to rule you, the dark side will latch onto that and pull you into the darkness and swallow you whole. The truly powerful are not those without fear, nor those who deny its existence. The truly powerful are the ones who acknowledge their fear yet continue on despite it." Lifting her hand, she pushed the vial towards Aayla. "So, are you going to be ruled by your fear? Or are you going to move past it and conquer it?"

Aayla stared down at the vial being offered to her, then up to Nox who was holding onto said vial. With a determined look, Aayla grabbed the vial out of Nox's hand and downed the entire thing in one go. "There!" Aayla said triumphantly.

Master Nox however, merely arched one eyebrow. "Well I wasn't expecting that. You should've waited until you were somewhere comfortable before drinking that though."

"Why?" Aayla asked looking down at the vial in her hand. "I– uh…what's ha-"

Before she could finish, Aayla's eyes rolled back and she collapsed. "Because it contains a mild sedative as well." Master Nox said calmly catching Aayla before she could hit the ground and hefting the twi'lek up onto her shoulder as if she weighed nothing at all. "Now the rest of you, head back to your beds and clear your minds before drinking the potion."

Without even waiting to see if the others were following suit, Ahsoka took her potion and practically ran back into her tent and hopped up onto her bed. The idea of learning how to transform into an animal was just…it was incredible! Crossing her legs and closing her eyes, Ahsoka did her very best to clear her mind, not an easy task considering just how excited she was to about to actually start down a path that most Jedi considered to be impossible.

After finally managing to calm herself down, she popped the cork off of the vial and down all of its contents in one go. _'Ew! Seems these potions taste like shit no matter what they're su– supposed to…oh whoa…this was…fas…'_

She didn't even feel it as she fell backwards onto her bed, her head just barely managing to land on her pillow instead of falling off the edge.

She felt something…strange beneath her arms. Looking around she saw the trees of her home world yet…no…she was above the trees. Feeling her body tilt downwards, the ground rushed up towards her before she extended her arms once more and leveled out. _'I'm…I'm flying!_ ' She cried out joyfully, but all she heard was a loud trill of excitement coming out of her.

Her body tilted downwards again her arms, no wings, angling themselves so that she could land on the soft ground next to a body of water. Ahsoka could feel her heart beating in her chest as she felt herself inching closer to the water's surface. _'What kind of bird am I? It…I have to be big…but…what-'_

As she looked over the edge of the water, Ahsoka barely got a look at herself before she felt herself being violently pulled back. Gasping for air, she shot up right. Placing a hand over her heart, Ahsoka looked around breathlessly. ' _I'm…I'm back aboard the Ashara.'_ She realized before looking down at the empty vial on her bed as a slow smile worked its way across her face. _'If Master Nox is right…then…oh Force. I'll be able to transform into a Corellian Banshee!'_

* * *

Standing on the bridge of the Ashara Harry watched anxiously along with all of his classmates as Tonks and his mother guided the ship around the moon. 'We're finally home!' He thought excitedly.

"That's Earth?" Ahsoka asked from beside him as she craned her neck to get a glimpse of what was essentially her new home. "A garden world…it's beautiful."

Glancing towards her, Harry shot Ahsoka a quick grin before turning back to Earth. Over the past eight days Ahsoka and Nat had worked themselves into the Hogwarts group so thoroughly that Harry now found it strange whenever they weren't with them. He was actually dreading the impending return trip to Hogwarts, even if it was still a couple of weeks away. It would be hard not seeing Ahsoka and Nat every day for months.

"Entering Earth's atmosphere in ten seconds." Tonks announced as the ship bounced slightly. "Everyone hold onto something. Breaking through in Five…four…three…two…one…and we're clear."

"Whoa." Ahsoka breathed as she gazed at the ocean beneath them. "I mean…I knew just by looking at it that there was a lot of water on this world…but just how much is there?"

"About seventy-one percent of Earth's surface is water." His mother called out from her seat. "This world nearly classifies as a water planet. And there is at least one type of sentient humanoid water species on the planet that we know of and there are probably more that we don't know just yet." Activating the navigation terminal at her left, Harry felt a wave of amusement roll off of his mother. "Tonks, head for these coordinates here."

"Alright," Tonks nodded as the ship adjusted course. "Wait…this…there isn't anything there."

"Don't be too sure about that." Nox said, her amusement even more evident than before. "Just take us to the location."

For the next ten minutes the group stayed silent as they watched the ocean pass beneath them. "Alright," Tonks announced. "Still don't see what you're talking about Nox. But we'll be arriving in our destination in less than a minu-" Harry lurched as he felt something wash over him. 'What? That was a barrier just now. But a barrier to what?' "What was that just now No – bloody hell...where did that come from?!"

Shaking his head, Harry stared out the front viewport, and felt his jaw fall open. Just a short distance in front of them was a fairly decent sized island. But it wasn't an island that had Harry so shocked. It was what was on the island what had him gaping. The entirety of the island was dominated by a large pyramid like structure that rose maybe half a mile or more into the sky. A large platform circled around the base of the pyramid jutting out over the water in several areas. And along each of the four sides of the pyramid stood a single spire that was nearly as tall as the pyramid itself.

"That…that looks like a modified version of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant." Ahsoka breathed looking down at the pyramid.

Hearing a light laugh, Harry looked towards the front where his mother was holding a hand against her lips. "Actually, I designed this based on the old Sith Temple on Korriban. But you'd be amazed at how similar the Sith and Jedi Temples are when you actually take the time to look at them. But still…I'm actually amazed that the goblins managed to finish it so quickly. Even with the aid of the werewolves I was expecting this project to take another year or two. I guess that twenty-five percent bonus really incentivized those little bugger. Tonks, head to the northern landing platform."

"Right." Tonks nodded as the ship slowly moved around the temple. As they came upon the northern section of the island, Harry could just barely make out nearly a dozen shadows standing on the landing platform they were heading for. "Wait…is that…oh that mangy dog is going to pay for this one! How did he know about it and I didn't?"

"Because this island was once owned by the Black family Tonks and Sirius graciously donated it to the cause." Pausing, Nox shot Tonks a rather amused glance. "Not to mention…you were there with me when I laid out the proposal. Didn't you wonder just what I was proposing to the goblins?"

"Well sure but I…oh fine." Tonks pouted. "But you're making this up to me later."

"Noted." Nox said standing up as Harry was just able to make out the figures standing on the platform.

"Wait!" Hermione cried taking a step forward. "Are those…what are my mother and father doing here?"

"I had Sirius bring them with him." His mother said as she walked out of the cockpit. "Unfortunately, the Weasleys, Davies and Abbotts are not present…but I'm sure we'll be able to share the secret with them soon enough. Now come on, let's go meet everyone."

Still in a mild daze, Harry turned with everyone else and followed his mother out of the cockpit and towards the back of the ship. As they made their way through they met up with Master Yoda, Aayla, Kento and Mallie who was holding onto her infant son Galen. "So we're finally on this Earth huh?" Kento said while standing up before turning around to help Mallie. "Good. Those tents of yours sure do make long travels much more enjoyable…but I'll be more than happy to have my feet on solid ground once again."

"Strong with the Force…this world is." Master Yoda commented as he hopped down from his seat and summoned his walking stick to him. "Hmm…shrouded…this world is. Felt as we passed it I did. Unlike anything I have felt before. Dark…yet light. Obscure this world from the Force, this Shroud does."

"Yes." His mother said as Master Yoda fell into step beside her. "I've done quite a bit of studying on this strange Shroud…yet I've been unable to determine its origins or even how long it's been here for. But there is one thing I'm sure of. I couldn't tell because I've been living here for so long. But now that we've been gone and come back I know this for certain." Stopping, his mother turned back around to face all of them. "The Shroud is fading. It's less than half as powerful as it was when I arrived thirteen years ago. At this rate…in less than ten years the Shroud will be gone completely and this world will stand out as a beacon to the Sith in the known galaxy."

Harry literally stopped in his tracks at this. _'The Shroud will…fail in less than ten years? Will we…will we even be ready? We were lucky enough to survive a single dreadnought…and Ahsoka says that there's hundreds of those size ships and thousands of the smaller ones. Then that's not to mention the standing army which rivals the population of Earth…and then the droids as well. Force…how does mother expect us to fight that?'_

"But that's a worry for another time." His mother said waving her hand. "Now come, let's go inspect our new home. I'm curious as to whether or not the goblins were able to do everything that I asked of them during construction."

Following his mother and Master Yoda, the group made their way to the loading ramp as the ship roughly touched down. "Merlin." Hannah gasped as she desperately grabbed hold of wall for support. "Tonks really needs to work on her landing."

"I'd like to see you try and do better!" Tonks's voice cried down the length of the ship making just about everyone laugh.

Doing his best to keep his composure, Harry stayed close to his mother's side as she lowered the boarding ramp and made the short trip down and onto the landing platform. Just beyond the ship were several awestruck adults who were all staring up at the ship.

"Good Merlin Nox." Sirius whistled while staring up at the ship while Hermione, Daphne, Astoria, Susan and Luna all ran past him to their respective parents and guardian. "Hearing about this ship is one thing…but actually seeing it…good Merlin! And Harry! Good to see you pup I– Harry! What in Merlin's name happened to your eyes!?"

Harry nearly cursed himself for forgetting. After nearly two weeks with no one mentioning his now unique eye coloring, he'd plain forgot about them. "A side-effect of his trials Sirius. Nothing to worry about." Nox answered for him.

Sirius looked at him strangely for a moment before shrugging. "Okay…I guess I'll take your word for it. But I'm expecting to hear the details later. Now…you said that you'll be bringing back some guests with you. I take it that this is them?"

"Yes." Nox said motioning to each of the Jedi as she introduced them. "This is Master Yoda, Master Aayla Secura, Master Kento Marek, his wife Master Mallie Marek and their son Galen. This is one of our new Knights Ahsoka Tano. And the little one hiding slightly behind Harry right now is Nat."

Harry could feel Ahsoka stand up slightly taller at being called a Knight and Harry felt no small amount of pride coming from her as well. 'Well…considering everything she's gone through she's more than earned the right to be called a Knight.'

Amelia, the Greengrasss and the Grangers managed to somehow to keep their surprised expressions to a minimum as they greeted the newcomers in turn. 'No doubt mother already explained the fact that most of the ones that were coming back with us weren't human.'

Sirius however, he was struck speechless as he took turns staring at first Mallie, then Aayla, then Nat and then lastly at Ahsoka. "Good Merlin pup…you leave Earth with ship full of beautiful witches and return with four more" Sirius adopted fake tears, "James would be so proud of you pup!"

"Please ignore this one." Amelia sighed as she stepped up and slapped Sirius upside the head. "I'm afraid this mangy mutt isn't completely house broken just yet. Well, I suppose I should make this official then." Stepping up to their group, Amelia bowed slightly to each of the newcomers' one at a time. "As the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for the British magical government, and as the only official here, I, Amelia Bones do hereby welcome you all to Earth. And let me express my deepest sympathies for what you all have been forced to endure. Earth is your home, for as long as you wish."

Taking a few steps forward, Master Yoda separated himself from the others before bowing slightly to Amelia. "Our thanks, you have Madam Bones. Idle, we shall not be. Return your generosity with aid, we shall."

"That is not necessary, Master Yoda." Amelia responded with a small smile. "But your help would be more than welcome."

"Hey Harry," Sirius called out as he finally looked down at Master Yoda. "I don't remember you guys leaving with a house elf."

Harry could've sworn he felt the air rush by him as everyone that'd gone on the trip gasped and gaped at Sirius. Master Yoda, to his credit, didn't say anything. Instead he simply raised his hand and waved it once. Sirius didn't even have time to yell as he was suddenly thrown across the landing platform before landing with a thud against the hull of the Ashara. But instead of falling down Sirius stuck to the ship like he was glued there!

"Elf, I am not!" Master Yoda replied with a mischievous smile before limping towards the temple entrance.

Looking back at his godfather, Harry had to suppress laughing as he saw his jaw working furiously, yet no sounds were coming out of him. "Using the Force to throw him across the platform, and then using a Sticking Charm to keep him there and a Silencing Charm to end any complaints. And all of it done wandlessly." His mother laughed while everyone stepped wide of the little green Jedi. "And I thought that I was a fast learner." She laughed before turning around to Sirius and with a wave of her wand cancelled everything Master Yoda had done.

"Bloody hell!" Sirius yelled as he got back to his feet. "What was-"

With another wave of her wand, Nox recast the silencing charm over Sirius. "I probably should've led with this Sirius. But Yoda here was and is the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order and is over nine hundred years old. Basically making him one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy. And he's taking to wandless magic like a fish in water." Turning back around to Amelia, Harry almost blinked as all of her previous humor left her face in an instant. "You said that there was something we needed to talk about. Something that needed to be discussed in person and with everyone. So what is it?"

Amelia suddenly started fidgeting slightly, which immediately put Harry on guard. He'd never seen the formidable woman unnerved by anything. Ever. "Perhaps we should do this inside." Amelia countered while waving her hand towards the Temple. "This is going to take a bit of explaining."

* * *

Standing in the room that would one day officially be the Council Chambers of the new Guardian Order, Nox flipped through a book detailing the history of this Triwizard Tournament. _'Whoever originally thought up this tournament could probably give a Sith Overseer a run for their credits.'_ She thought as she closed the book she was reading as she gazed out over the ocean.

"This…this sounds brutal." Aayla breathed as she flipped another page in the book. "I don't think even the Jedi Trials could be this…harsh. Nearly one or two contestants died or where at least crippled for life or lost their connection to the Force each time the tournament took place. It sounds to me like it was banned for a good reason. Why would anyone want to bring it back? And better yet…why would anyone agree to participate in it?"

Turning back around, Nox cast a quick glance at everyone who was in the room with her. Sirius and Amelia were standing side by side with the Greengrass's while the former-Jedi quickly read through the same history book she'd just finished while Dan and Emma Granger read through the book at a much slower pace. Most of the kids; Ginny, Ron, Hannah and Tracey had already used the built in floo system to return to their homes after learning of the Triwizard Tournament and swearing an oath that they wouldn't speak of it to their parents unless they brought it up first. The rest of the kids; Harry, Ahsoka, Daphne, Astoria, Susan, Luna, Nat and Hermione had all gone off to explore the virtually empty temple while they talked.

"Good god…this is the school that we're sending our daughter too?" Dan Granger breathed as he flipped another page in the book he was reading. "I swear…if I wasn't sure that Hermione would just run off behind our back we wouldn't be sending her back."

"But why bring this so-called tournament back now?" Mallie asked as she closed the book, having finished reading it just a moment prior. "It's been banned for hundreds of years…now it's being brought back for no apparent reason. Why?"

Closing her own book Nox gazed out over the ocean. She could already see why this was being done. But unfortunately it was a day late and a dollar short. "Because Dumbledore is trying to make alliances."

"What?" Kento asked. "I think there would be easier ways to go about making alliances than a potentially life-threatening tournament between children."

"Perhaps the better question we, as we are new to this planet, should be asking you, who is this Dumbledore you mention?" Aayla looked to the Earth natives and Nox.

"Albus Dumbledore is an interesting man. I mean to say he has many titles and many responsibilities and yet all seem to contradict the man himself." Nox held up a hand to count off thoughts. "One, He's the headmaster of Hogwarts has held that position for over 40 years. Two, he's the Chief Warlock of magical Britain Wizengamot. Three, he's Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Warlocks; a body that works similarly to the Republic Senate. And here's the most interesting title he has assigned himself; he's the Leader of the Light. Think of him as the Supreme Chancellor, Grand Master and Senator all rolled into one."

"If he's a leader of the light why is he pushing this…this madness?" Emma waves her hand at the still open book in front of her.

"Bear in mind he sees himself that way; it does not mean he is, by Jedi standards, light sided." Nox shook her head in an attempt to clarify the meaning. "For example, Amelia and I have found that there is a prophecy that involves Harry but when we went to investigate it we discovered it destroyed. Well the Ministry's record of it anyway. We know that Dumbledore was one of the two people who was present when the prophecy was made. When Amelia pressed Dumbledore about the prophecy he refused to tell her saying it was 'for the Greater Good'."

"Hmm…holding many secrets, he does. Dangerous to withhold so much, this is." Yoda looked to Amelia with a furrowed brow. "Seeks counsel of others, this man does?"

Amelia looked thoughtful but shook her head, "Not that I'm aware of, it's more often people go to him for advice, Fudge included at times."

"During the war with Riddle, Dumbledore lead a group, Order of the Phoenix, to fight against Riddle and his followers. Problem was he told us, specifically those who fought the Death Eaters, not to kill, stun only. Didn't matter to him that the Death Eaters were throwing out dark and illegal curses that were killing us." Sirius shook his head in dismay. "We tried to tell him stunners won't work if they'll just revive each other, but he refused to listen."

"Stunners? You have a…spell…that stuns?" Kento looked at Sirius with a raised brow.

Nox snorted, "More like a knockout but its use is only as good if someone doesn't use a countercurse. And then you're stuck fighting the same enemies over and over because they kept getting revived in the middle of a fight."

"Yeah…we tried telling Dumbledore that," Sirius scoffed. "But the man pretty much all but forbade us from using anything more effective. In fact, he even passed a law during the war prohibiting the Aurors and HitWizards from using lethal spells."

"Going back to Kento's question, you would think that there would be better ways of forming relations, but unfortunately the individual magical governments of this world wouldn't know how to cooperate with one another even if their lives depended on it." Amelia sighed. "Trust me…I've been trying for years. Some individuals within each government are open to cooperation, but as a whole each government doesn't really care about the other. This tournament won't open talks necessarily between the existing governments. So my bet is that Dumbledore is trying to make alliances between the younger generations. He's playing the long game here."

"Unfortunately, we don't have time to play the long game here." Nox responded before she turned towards Yoda. "I'm sure you've felt it. The darkness on this world. It's grown since we left. No doubt Riddle is making his move and Dumbledore is doing his best to counter it. Too bad Dumbledore's a day late and a dollar short with this idea though."

"I'm still curious as to how he got this approved." Cyrus Greengrass sighed. "It wasn't brought before the Wizengamot. So how did he get it approved?"

"Because an event like this doesn't need to be approved by the Wizengamot." Sirius shrugged. "He got around it by going straight to the Minister who, needing a show of good publicity after the whole Azkaban fiasco, signed off on it without hesitating."

"But surely he's made some concessions on some of these trials." Evelyn asked aloud. "I mean…the other schools wouldn't agree to anything too dangerous. Would they?"

"Apparently they did." Amelia sighed. "I went down to a friend in the Department of Magical Creatures, and he told me that Fudge has approved the transfer and temporary holding of no less than ten class five creatures."

All of the witches and the wizrds in the room cursed loudly, even Nox felt the need to curse the fools. "Um, for those of us not from around here," Kento said while motioning to the Jedi and the Grangers who were looking equally confused. "What's a 'class five creature'?"

"Dangerous creatures that are known wizard killers and are deemed impossible to train or domesticate." Sirius answered back. "Creatures like dragons, acromantulas, basilisks, chimaeras, lethifold…all sorts of fun creatures."

"And they'll be forcing children to go against these things?" Emma gasped.

"No. Well…sort of." Amelia winced. "One concession was an age restriction. No one under the age of seventeen will be able to enter the competition. And I doubt they would force the children to take these creatures down but unfortunately, I don't honestly know what they're going to be doing with these creatures. As well as being extremely dangerous, each class five are also endangered. So it is unlikely they will have to fight to the point of serious harm. They'll more than likely act like obsticals. Unfortunately though, I really don't know what is going to happen. Only the Heads of the schools and a select few individuals in each government are privy to the details of the tournament as a whole. So everything on our end will be completely hypothetical."

"Perhaps there is a way we can use this to our advantage as well." Nox mused.

Everyone in the room turned and gaped at her. Only Master Yoda nodded. "Intend to use your son to make connections with these other schools, you are." Yoda said.

"Yes." Nox nodded. "Unfortunately because of our start up in Britain, we've been unable to scout out the other nations for potential Guardians. And while everyone coming to Hogwarts will be too old to begin the training…it will be good if we have more allies."

"That's a lot of responsibility to put on your son." Aayla said with narrowed eyes.

"He can handle it." Nox responded with a smile. "He's my son after all."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Just wanted to take a second to thank everyone who's supported this story so far. I can't believe that we're already up to 1k Favorites and 1k Alerts! That is absolutely mind blowing to me and I thank each and everyone one of you for your continued support! It really means a lot to me.**

 **Now if you will all excuse me for a moment…I need to rant. FLAMES DO NOT HELP ANYONE! I've received several, actually more than a few, so called 'flame' reviews, usually going along the lines that my writing, this story, or my characters in general just suck or are not 'correct'. Some of them are actually quite lengthy too. And then they also take the coward's way out of leaving a flame under a 'guest' review so I can't even find out who you are. Now I'm always open to reviews, but if it's critiques please leave suggestions as well. I'm not a professional writer and have never claimed to be one. I do this for fun. But having someone say that everything I've spent so many hours on is a piece of shit…well that really puts me off of writing. If you don't like something, DON"T REVIEW IT! Just simply click off the story and let those who do enjoy it enjoy it. No one is forcing you to read this.**

 **Sorry about that, but I had to get that off of my chest. And like I said, those few reviewers are few and far far between. And I appreciate every single one of you who leave either positive reviews or helpful suggestions or those who alert/favorite this story. Thank you all so much for your continued support.**

 **And lastly, before we begin just a huge thank you too my two beta's** **HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon. Thank you so much for your help you guys. And now…off we go!**

 **Chapter 6**

Sitting alone and shirtless in the darkness of his room within the Guardian Temple, Harry worked on keeping his breathing steady, focusing all of his will into his left arm while his faithful familiar Hedwig watched him from her perch above him. He felt his arm twitch and shift.

Opening his eyes quickly, he stared down at his left arm and gasped. His arm was bent slightly…and he had feathers sprouting all the way from his wrist up to his shoulder. Red feathers. _'That's it!_ ' He thought excitedly, jumping up into the air in celebration.

But the moment he did his concentration broke and the feathers on his arm disappeared as the bones returned to normal. "Damn it." Harry cursed as he sat back down.

Two weeks. One week onboard the ship and one week since they'd arrived back on Earth. He'd been trying for two weeks now to get any headway into his animagus transformation. He knew that it wasn't going to be easy. Hell…he'd been sure of that ever since he had the dream revealing just what his animagus would be. But he didn't think it would be this hard. Two weeks and all he'd achieved was partially shifting his arm into his animagus form. And even then…the transformation broke the second he lost concentration.

Closing his eyes again, Harry tried once again to center his attention on the beast within his mind.

"Harry! Are you ready for…oh…whoa– I mean. Sorry."

Spinning around, Harry's eyes snapped opened. Behind him, standing just within his doorway was Ahsoka. Her hand was still on the handle of his door and her eyes were wider than he'd ever seen before. Feeling his body flush in embarrassment, Harry coughed awkwardly as he stood up and quickly put on his shirt. "Need something Ahsoka? Or…are you just admiring the view?"

Harry nearly patted himself on the back as he managed to get out the quip without blushing even further. In the short time the two had known one another they had settled into a comfortable relationship, one that developed even faster than his own with Ginny. Ahsoka blinked once, then he could've sworn he saw her face blush slightly before she scoffed. "In your dreams Harry."

Emboldened by the banter, Harry grinned as he took a step towards Ahsoka. "And what pleasant dreams they are Ahsoka."

He was rewarded further as Ahsoka's cheeks darkened. "Stop…you win. You need to stop hanging out with your godfather and Master Kento so much." Ahsoka said turning away from him slightly and holding up her hand. Hedwig hooted from her perch and floated down towards the two of them only to pass right by Harry and land gracefully on Ahsoka's shoulder. "You see, even Hedwig agrees with me."

"Traitor." Harry chuckled as Hedwig stared at him while Ahsoka reached up and gently petted the feathers on her chest.

"She just knows class when she sees it." Ahsoka smirked back as she continued to pet Hedwig.

Shaking his head, Harry fixed Ahsoka with a rueful grin. "So, did you have a purpose coming to my room this morning or were you just trying to sneak a peek or steal my familiar or tease me?"

"Well, two of the three at least." Ahsoka smiled jokingly. "But don't tell me you forgot already? Today Master Nox is taking all of us, save for Galen, to this…Diagonal Alley?"

"Diagon Alley." Harry corrected as he led Ahsoka out of his room and into the wide corridor. "And no I haven't forgotten. I just got lost in my animagus training is all."

As soon as they were out in the hall, Hedwig took off from Ahsoka's shoulder and began flying down the hall. As the two walked down the hallway, Harry was once again struck with just how…beautiful this temple was. The hallways were much wider than those at Hogwarts…but at the same time the architecture was almost identical. Which was understandable as apparently the goblins still had the original schematics of Hogwarts that'd been penned by Rowena Ravenclaw herself, and they'd been used in the construction of the temple.

The outermost walls of the temple were also segregated so that slits could open allowing natural light to flow freely throughout the interior of the temple. When night came about however, the slats closed almost on their own accord and small troches lit up along the hallways to provide light.

There were also more rooms within the temple itself than in all of Hogwarts. There were hundreds…maybe even a thousand or more residential rooms. Dozens of large training rooms or lecture halls. A library, that while only currently a quarter of the way full, rivaled the library at Hogwarts. Attached to the library was a room that'd made all of the Jedi more than slightly nervous and envious. All of the holocrons that his mother had had been brought to the temple and were stored in a large five tiered vault.

While his mother had always encouraged him and her apprentices to study all aspects of the Force, even she admitted that there were some holocrons in her possession that were too dangerous for the ill-equipped. So because of that the vault was tiered into five sections. One that allowed everyone, even Acolytes in. The next tier required one to be of at least Apprentice standing. The third held the requirement that one needed to be a Knight while the fourth required a Master's ranking. And the last tier was currently restricted to only his mother and Master Yoda.

But despite the Temples large size, at the moment the only rooms that were constantly used were the library and holocron vault. And the rooms where Harry, his mother, Luna and her father and the other members of the Guardians were living in. The Bones', Greengrass', Sirius and everyone else had rooms set aside for them, but none of them were currently in use as they preferred to stay at their own homes during the night.

The real surprise was the one feature to the temple that absolutely astounded everyone, even his mother. Because the goblins had the original schematics of Hogwarts…they also had the runic arrays that went into the foundation of the old castle. Which included the array needed to create a new Room of Requirement. The room had absolutely floored the former Jedi that'd come back with them, even Master Yoda was taken aback by what the room was capable of. Ahsoka, being ever the eager one, was the first to really take control of the room when she had it create a squadron full of sentient droids for her to destroy. The room had actually become so popular amongst their group that his mother had to set up a timetable for who could use it and when.

When Harry had asked his mother just how all of the temple's runic arrays; from the defensive to the Room of Requirement to the moving walls, kept powered she replied that there was a reason she chose this particular locations, and it wasn't because of its remoteness. No. The true reason she chose this location was the same reason why the Founders choose that specific location for Hogwarts. This island was centered on a juncture of several magical ley lines. And because of that, the arrays and wards received a continuous stream of power without needing to be recharged.

He'd also been pleasantly surprised that all of his friends kept returning each day for training. Although now that each of them either had their own apprentices or they had a Master to instruct them, group training sessions were usually few and far between. And speaking of apprentices… "How's Nat handling the fact that she can't get a wand just yet?" Harry asked as the two continued towards the main hall of the temple.

Despite her many protests, his mother had been adamant that Nat would not be receiving her wand just yet. When the other masters asked just why that was, his mother explained to them what she'd learned of the intricacies of wand lore. They'd been both amazed and appalled. But in the end they all agreed that it would be for the best that Nat not receive her wand until she was at least eleven.

"She's better." Ahsoka nodded. "I think the compromise that she can still come with us helped a lot. It's too bad that little Galen won't be able to come with us. Although I don't really think he would remember this trip. Thank the Force that Luna is willing to help watch him with while we'll be gone. I know Kento likes your godfather, but I know that Mallie won't leave her son alone with Sirius. Force only knows what he'd teach the poor boy."

Harry didn't bother trying to hide his smile. His prediction back on Odessen had come true that Kento and Sirius would get along splendidly. And despite how much Mallie would deny it, Sirius was actually wonderful with little Galen and Nat. Especially when he turned into Padfoot. Luna and her father though was another story.

While Luna was getting along with everyone Harry could tell that, despite his good nature, Xenophilius was having a slightly harder time than his daughter. The owner of the Quibbler was constantly hounding after their new companions, asking them just about any and every question he could think of. Even if they didn't make any sense. Never mind the fact Xenophilius has come face to face with the knowledge that there is life outside Earth, his eccentric personality still takes getting used to.

"Luna will keep them in line…although now that I say that it is kind of sad." Harry laughed. "Two grown men and a baby, and the one we trust to keep them in line is a girl slightly younger than us."

The two were still laughing slightly as they walked into the main hall of the Temple. While all of the halls and rooms within the Temple were spacious, the main hall was in a league of its own. Ahsoka told him that it reminded her greatly of the main entrance within the Jedi Temple with its sheer size. The main thing that set the two Temples apart however were the three nearly five story tall statues that stood on three sides of the main hall facing the entrance. The statues of Grandmaster Satele Shan and Darth Marr flanked either side of the main hall while a statue of Revan stood directly across from the entrance. The other big difference were the eight fireplaces that were built into several of the pillars in the center of the hall. Eventually they would be connected to the global magical Floo network, but for now they were just simple fireplaces that had a constant magical fire burning within them.

Making their way further into the main hall, they found the rest of the occupants of the Temple gathered in the center of the hall. Luna was holding onto little Galen while Mallie was giving her and Tonks instructions. Sirius was chatting with Kento and Xenophilius was talking animatedly with and thoroughly amused looking Master Yoda.

"About time you two showed up." His mother called out while her back was still turned to them.

"Sorry mother." Harry apologized as Nat separated from the group and jumped at him, forcing him to catch her and carry her. "It's my fault. I lost track of time."

"Yeah…those broom closets really need clocks installed in them don't they Harry?" Sirius laughed good while shooting the two of them a less than subtle wink.

Harry just barely managed to keep his composure while beside him Ahsoka missed a step but managed to keep her face blank. "Careful old dog." Harry muttered.

"Or what?" Sirius asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Or I tell Amelia about those memories you keep locked away in your room." Harry answered innocently.

The blood instantly drained from Sirius's face. "How do you know about those– I mean…no…you wouldn't do that to me would you pup?"

Smiling, Harry marched right past his dogfather. "Well for starters I don't know what you're talking about, but thank you for confirming that there is something there. And second, keep teasing Ahsoka and I would in a heartbeat."

"Sneaky little bugger." Sirius grumbled as Kento started laughing at him while patting him on the back.

"Well now that we are all here, we can get started." His mother announced loudly, cutting off whatever comeback Sirius was building up too. "As I promised you all, today we will be heading to Diagon Alley to procure your wands from perhaps the best wandmaker in the world."

Around the room, the Masters and Ahsoka all remained impassive, but Harry had a pretty good idea about just what was running through their heads. It was no secret that all of the newcomers, including Ahsoka, considered buy something as valuable and personal as a wand as a mild insult. All of their training and beliefs led them to want to make their own wands. It'd taken his mother, Sirius, and Amelia nearly a full day to convince them that crafting their own wands wasn't necessarily the best of ideas. For one, wand lore was a carefully guarded secret that was held between wand makers. Even the slightest misstep during the crafting process could lead to disastrous effects, most often explosive and deadly.

"I know that many of you are still uneasy with such a prospect," his mother continued as she too no doubt sensed what the ex-Jedi were thinking. "And perhaps in the future we can incorporate the crafting of a wand into our training. But for now, this is the best option that we have."

Reaching into the folds of her robes, his mother pulled out several hand size pouches that Harry recognized as money bags. "There is roughly a hundred galleons within each of these bags," Nox explained as she handed them out to the Masters and Ahsoka, all of whom looked at the small weightless bag skeptically. "Trust me, it's all in there. I've already contacted Master Ollivander so you won't have to worry about paying for the wands or the holsters, but after you are finished there I wish for you all to explore the market Alley to better acclimate yourselves with the wizarding world before we head to the Quidditch World Cup next week."

"Not that I don't believe that you put one hundred coins – galleons right? Yes, galleons into these. But you showed us a galleon and the weight of these bags…doesn't make sense not to mention they're so small for one hundred of them." Aayla held up the bag hefting its weight with a frown.

"Ah I should mention that those bags are enchanted. Featherweight charm and undetectable extension charm. You could put your whole arm into the bag." Nox explained the magic in the money bags.

Once all of the bags were handed out, his mother once again reached into her robes, this time pulling out nearly a dozen small pins. "These are all portkeys." She explained while handing one to each person who would be going with them, including Ahsoka and Nat. "Should you get in trouble or simply wish to return, all you need to do is grab hold of this pin and say the word 'Temple'. The portkey will activate and send you back to this very room. And before you ask, you don't need to worry about accidentally activating it. Saying the word 'Temple' won't activate the portkeys. You have to be holding onto them as well. Or if you wish to return in one group, you all need to be touching it when it is activated. Understand?"

After making sure that everyone understood, his mother than pulled out her wand. "Now, while the Alley will be mostly empty, there will still be some people wandering around. And while they won't bat an eye at Kento or Mallie, and Master Yoda they will more than likely assume to be some sort of goblin or house elf. They will take notice of a togruta, a twi'lek and a nautolan. None of which are native to Earth. So, until you return I'll have to place the three of you under a glamour, an illusion if you will. Which one of you want to go first?"

Letting go of his hand, Nat bravely stepped up to his mother and placed her hands on her hips. "I will…Master Nox."

Bringing her wand around, his mother muttered something under her breath before tapping Nat on top of her head. Nat's form waved slightly, like ripples spreading across open water. When the ripples stopped, Nat's green skin was now a dark tannish color. Her pure black eyes now had a white sclera around them. And most notably, her head tentacles had been replaced by long thick black dreadlocks.

All of the Masters stared at Nat in open mouthed wonder. Nat, for her part, shivered. "That…didn't feel well."

"It's alright dear." His mother said as she conjured up a small mirror before handing it to her. "What do you think?"

Taking the offered mirror, Nat managed a single glance into its reflective surface before she dropped it and jumped back with a small screech. "Is that- is me?"

"Illusion, is all it is youngling." Master Yoda smiled as he hobbled over and picked up the mirror. "Changed, you have not. Changed how we see you, you have."

"This spell will only last for two hours at best." His mother commented. "And as Master Yoda has said, it is an illusion. If someone were to touch your head, they wouldn't feel hair they would feel your tentacles little one. There are talismans that cast a glamour over the wearer for as long as they are wearing it and fool anyone who touches them as well. I'll have to talk to the goblins about procuring them though as they are incredibly rare. And not to mention more than slightly illegal. Now, Ahsoka if you would."

Ahsoka tensed for only a moment before taking a step forward before his mother quickly tapped her on top of her head with her wand. Just like Nat, Ahsoka's form wavered for a moment before settling. Her montrails were gone, replaced by a full head of brown hair. Her skin had turned from orange to a more tan color. And the white markings that'd crisscrossed her face were gone.

"That, was not pleasant" Ahsoka said shivering slightly before looking down at her arm. "How do I look?"

"Like a human." Harry answered honestly. "But…I think I prefer you without the glamour."

Ahsoka's eyes widened for a split second before smiling. "Thanks Harry."

"There's hope for you yet pup!" Sirius laughed while clapping Harry on the back. "And before I forget about it, these are for you."

Looking down, Harry saw that Sirius was holding onto a small black case. Taking the case, Harry opened it and found a pair of wire-framed square glasses. "Mother corrected my vision when I was younger Sirius." Harry said with a frown as he looked up and saw that his mother was casting a glamour over Aayla. "I haven't needed glasses for as long as I can remember."

"These aren't those type of glasses pup." Sirius replied. "They won't correct your vision at all. Instead they're enchanted with a glamour rune that will hide your eyes."

"Oh," Harry responded eloquently before taking the glasses out of the case and putting them on. "Well, how do I look?"

Ahsoka stared at him for a moment before shrugging. "You're eyes look normal. Shame. They were just starting to grow on me too."

"Good Merlin, get a room you two and snog it out already." Sirius said - making both teens blush profusely - before he sighed dramatically. "I swear, you two are worse than James and Lily were during our seventh yea – ouch! What was that for?"

"Because Amelia wasn't here to do it." Mallie responded as Sirius was rubbing the spot on the back of his head where she'd hit him.

"And if she hadn't then I would've Sirius." His mother added before pushing Sirius away and pulling out a long piece of rope. "Now everyone grab hold. We'll be taking a portkey to Diagon Alley."

Kento, Mallie and Aayla didn't look too thrilled by the prospect of this method of transportation, but Ahsoka and Nat both looked quite excited. Both of them had been wanting to travel by portkey, apparition or Floo ever since they'd heard about them. Even the prospect of the slight to extreme discomfort experienced by those who weren't used to the travel couldn't put a damper on their excitement. 'Well…they're about to experience this 'discomfort' firsthand. And then we'll see just how excited they are to travel this way again in the future.'

Holding the portkey out, his mother waited until everyone who was going to Diagon Alley had a hand on the rope before pulling out her wand and touching it to the rope. "Portus."

* * *

Landing on her feet, Ahsoka had to fight against the urge to empty her stomach of all of its contents. Luckily though, she wasn't the only one. All of the Masters looked more than slightly unbalanced as they rocked back and forth slightly to regain their footing. The only ones who looked completely unperturbed by what they just went through were Harry and Master Nox. _'Force…Harry said that there only a 'slight' discomfort experienced during traveling! Slight my arse!'_

"That really wasn't any better the second time around." Master Secura moaned while holding her midsection. "Surely there's a better means of traveling on this world."

Casting a glance at her, Ahsoka's own hands involuntarily went up to her head and felt her montrals on top of her head. She could still feel them…even though no one else could see them. Just like Master Secura's lekku were still there...despite outward appearances. The sensation of the spell that Master Nox cast over the two of them to change their outward appearance felt like a ball of slime had been dropped on top of her head and allowed to slither down her entire body. In short…not a very pleasant experience.

"There are other means of travel, but considering that we just traveled several hundred miles in less than a few seconds I would say that the slight discomfort was worth it." Master Nox responded with an arched eyebrow. "We could've apparated. But that only works at best for two or three people if you're really good at it. Or we could've flown then drove here which would've taken hours. Now, if you've all managed to right yourselves, may I welcome you to Diagon Alley."

Brushing herself off, Ahsoka took two steps into said alley, and stopped dead in her tracks. She'd been from one end of the galaxy to the other, from Coruscant to Genosis. She'd seen just about every level of technological advancements there were, but what she saw before her was something completely and utterly new. It was almost like a blending of both new and old technology…just with no technology. It was, in a word, amazing.

And she wasn't the only one to think so either, judging by the several gasps she heard coming from around her. Beside her Nat, whose disguise still made Ahsoka do a double take each time she saw her, was staring around in open wonder. "Well don't just stand there Ahsoka." Harry laughed while poking her and Nat in the back slightly to get them moving. "We've got more to do today than just hanging out in this alley all day."

With Harry prodding her in the back, quite literally, and while she was holding onto Nat's hand the three of them made their way out of the small side street and into the main section of Diagon Alley. Although now that she could see it properly…calling it an 'Alley' was woefully inaccurate. The main section of road that they were on seemed to stretch on for several hundred meters in either direction with shops selling all different and bizarre wares lined either side while a handful of people, mostly what looked like small families, made their way from one shop to the other.

"This is where I leave you all." Master Nox announced as she separated herself from the rest of them. "Harry will guide you all to get your wands. After that the day is yours to get acclimated to this place. Whenever you're ready to leave, simply grab hold of your pendants and say 'Temple' and you will be taken back. Good luck." Without waiting for a reply, Master Nox turned around and marched towards the opposite end of the alley from where they were facing towards a large white building.

"Well then," Harry said as he offered his hand to Nat, who instantly took it so that she was hanging onto both of them. "Shall we?"

Nodding, Ahsoka walked alongside Nat and Harry as the latter led them through the mostly empty shopping center. As they walked she tried to keep herself from gawking at the storefronts, but that was pretty much impossible. Everything was just so…interesting! There was a shop for seemingly everything…save for anything electronic.

There was a bookstore that she was sure Masters Secura and Marek would be pillaging soon enough. There was a store where a man was handing out odd cone shaped food full of colored…something. There was another store that had dozens of owls sitting on perches in the window, although not one of them could even come close to comparing to Hedwig in her opinion. There was another shop that sold cases and trunks. And another that…well there was no way Ahsoka would be entering that particular shop without taking at least three sonic showers after she left. 'Force…haven't they ever heard of a health inspection on this world?'

Ahsoka nearly laughed out loud as they passed by one particular shop. It wasn't so much what the shop was selling…brooms. It was the crowd of kids barely older than Harry that were standing outside the shop with their noses pressed against the glass as they all but drooled over the broom on display in the window.

"Brooms?" Kento remarked lowly as they walked by. "I know you told us all about them…but still. Of all the things you people could fly on…you choose probably one of the most uncomfortable objects to ride, not to mention fall off of."

"They're actually quite comfortable." Harry countered back. "There are numerous charms placed on them for comfort, even some to cut down on wind resistance. Then there are also a few to help with stability so you don't fall off. Trust me. It's actually quite fun to ride one."

For her part, Ahsoka was actually mildly looking forward to riding on one of these brooms. Since they arrived a week ago, Master Nox had already allowed all of the Masters, including herself, to pilot one of the Blackwings that were docked within the hangar bay of the Temple. That was a flight she would not be forgetting anytime soon. The controls to the fighter were just so…intuitive.

She knew many a pilots that would kill for a chance to fly one of those fighters let alone own one. The rest of the Knights and Apprentices wanted to fly them as well, but as they didn't have the experience that the rest of them did, they were stuck just tagging along for a ride in one of the two-person versions of the fighter. Although she will admit…she did hand controls over to Ginny while the two of them were flying together. And Force…could that girl fly!

"And here we are." Harry announced suddenly, drawing her out of her memories. "Ollivander's. The best wandmaker in all of Britain…probably the world."

Giving herself a slight shake, Ahsoka looked up at the shop they were standing in front of. Honestly…it didn't look special at all. The windows were so dirty that you could hardly see through them. And the building itself looked like it was about one stiff breeze away from falling over.

Letting go of Nat's hand, Harry walked up to the door and held it open for them. "Well then…what are you all waiting for? Scared?"

Smirking slightly at the challenge, Ahsoka marched right past Harry while whispering, "In your dreams Harry."

As she passed through the entryway, she felt a wave of the Force pass over her, much in the same way it did whenever she entered or left the tents on board the Ashara. 'This shop…it's far far bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. Is this…does this place have one of those spatial compression spells on it as well?'

The large size was not the only thing she noticed. Once she passed beyond the entryway she could feel…well it was difficult to truly put it in words. But it was like a thousand whispers from the Force were passing her by just barely out of her reach. Yet still…she could hear…or rather feel on whisper that almost seemed to be calling out to her.

She was so focused on the whispers of the Force coming from all around her that she didn't even realize that they weren't alone in the shop until a sliding ladder came to an abrupt stop almost right in front of her. "Well well…Mr. Potter! Eleven inches, holly and a phoenix tail feather! So good to see you again. I trust you're treating your wand right? And, oh…these must be the mysterious guests your mother arranged this meeting for…umm…interesting indeed." Ollivander chuckled.

Forcing her attention back to the moment, Ahsoka found herself standing face to face with a man who looked as old as the exterior of the shop they were now in. His white, sparse, hair was jutting out in just about every conceivable direction. But it was his eyes that drew Ahsoka in. It…it almost felt like he wasn't seeing her…but rather seeing through her to her very core.

"Yes sir," Harry nodded before drawing his wand and holding it out to the old man, who took it as if it were an item made of fragile glass. "I've been taking good care of it. And it's been taking care of me as well."

"So I can see." The old man replied with a smile before holding the wand up to his ear, almost as if he were listening to the wand speak. "Mmm…I am not pleased that this wand has already ended a life…not here…but far away. But the wand is loyal and happy with you Mr. Potter. No…the wand is overjoyed with you. You do your parents proud." Ollivander said, handing Harry's wand back to him with a smile.

"Thank you sir." Harry nodded while taking his wand and tucking it back into his sleeve where his wand holster lay. _'I can't wait to get a few of those! They're so handy!_ ' "Everyone, this is Garrick Ollivander, probably the best wandmaker in the world."

"No need to flatter me Mr. Potter, I know just how good I am." Ollivander said with a smile before looking over each of them one at a time. "Hm…interesting indeed. It's not every day I get three humans and four non-humans, none of which I can name, into my shop. Tell me…would any of you be willing to part with a hair or two?"

Ahsoka felt her heart skip a beat. _'He…he can see us? And he knows that we're not– wait. Why would he want some of our hairs?'_

"Afraid not Mr. Ollivander." Harry said quickly before leading Nat over to him. "Just the five wands and the ten holsters. Unfortunately, this little one isn't ready for her wand just yet. But she wasn't about to let us leave her behind."

"Hmm…yes I see…" Ollivander hummed while looking at the five who needed their wands. "Well! Let's get started then! Who wants to go first?"

"I will." Ahsoka said quickly, taking a step forward. She'd been looking forward to this moment for…well pretty much ever since she saw just what Master Nox and the others were capable of doing with their wands.

Ollivander grin widened considerably as he turned towards her. Ahsoka felt herself involuntarily shudder as the man's eyed her from top to bottom. It…it didn't really feel like he was looking at her. More like he was looking through her, right down to her very essence. "Hmm, yes…interesting. Not necessarily strange, but…not common at all." He muttered before turning his back on her and disappearing into the many shelves of his shop.

"Wha– what's going on Harry?" Ahsoka asked.

Harry merely smirked back at her. "I'm sure you felt it right? Wands are…temperamental. The wands choose the wizard or witch they wish to serve. Not the other way around. I'm not sure just how he does it, but Ollivander basically looks into your very soul to find the wand that will match with you."

Before Ahsoka could ask another question, the old man returned carrying a single long and narrow box. Opening the box, Ollivander pulled out a reddish-brown wand roughly the same lengths as Harry's. "Mahogany, ten and three-quarter inches with a phoenix feather core. Quite swishy. Wonderful wand for defending those you care about."

Ahsoka could do little more than blink dumbly at the wand that was being offered to her. She…the pull she'd felt from the Force when she walked into the shop had been amplified ten-fold as soon as Ollivander pulled the wand out of the box. Overcoming her self-imposed stupor, she reached out and grabbed hold of the wand. She could hardly even describe what it felt like the moment her fingers closed around the shaft of the wand. She felt…warm. Content. As if a she'd just been reunited with a piece of herself that she wasn't even aware she was missing.

"Whoa…" She breathed as she ran both hands across the length of her wand. Her wand. "I– this is my wand. It's…feels incredible!"

Both Ollivander and Harry were wearing identical grins while all of the Masters were staring at her with open mouths. Well, all save for Master Yoda that is. "Ahsoka," Master Secura said after a moment. "You were…literally glowing with the Force just now."

"The Force?" Ollivander said questioningly before shrugging. "Hm. New name for magic. Not that I care of course."

"Master Ollivander." Master Mallie said, looking at Ahsoka. "Harry said that the wand chooses the wizard. How? Are they sentient? And what happens if the wand rejects the individual?"

Turning towards Master Mallie, Ollivander grinned widely before turning around and disappearing back into his shop. When he reemerged a second later he was carrying two small boxes.

"I'm afraid that not even the very wisest can answer the question as to why a wand will choose one individual over another. At best, I can match you to a wand that might accept you. As for whether or not wands are sentient…they are not. At least not in the way you and I understand sentience. And as for what happens when a wand doesn't accept an individual," opening up one of the boxes, Ollivander pulled out a wand and held it towards Mallie. "Yew and dragon heartstring. Twelve inches, unyielding. Give it a wave my dear."

Ahsoka watched as Master Mallie grabbed hold of the wand, but instead of looking at in awe like she thought, Mallie instead frowned at the wand in her hand. After a moment's hesitation, Mallie then waved the wand off towards the side of the shop. Immediately several shelves toppled over and several vases that were lining those shelves exploded as if they'd had a grenade inside of them.

"That is what happens if the wand rejects the user." Ollivander said, smiling as he took the wand back from a shell-shocked Master Mallie before handing her a different wand, this one a dark red and slightly longer than the one Ahsoka held. "Try this one my dear. Cherry, twelve and one-half inches with a kelpie mane core. Nice and supple."

Mallie was visibly hesitant as she reached out for the newly offered wand. But that hesitation disappeared the moment her fingers closed around the wood and Mallie was surrounded in a soft white glow. "By the gods…" Mallie whispered as the light faded from around her body. "That…this is incredible."

Ollivander merely smiled at her before collecting the ill-fitting wand and returning it to its box. "Now then," he murmured as he turned towards Aayla. "Hmm…another tricky customer. Haven't had to match wands to non-humans in some time. Hmm…such a challenge. Perhaps…no. Maybe. Yes. That is the one. Now…what about him…oh. Too easy."

Disappearing back into his shop, the old man was gone for barely a minute before he returned with two boxes. The first he opened contained an almost white colored wand which he handed off to Kento. "Aspen, eleven inches. Dragon heartstring core, nice and pliable."

Master Kento's reaction was almost identical to his wife's. And while he was still staring at his new wand in a mild daze, Ollivander turned towards Aayla. "And for you ma'am. Thirteen inches, willow with a spine of a white river monster. Unyielding. Quite the unusual combination, but incredibly powerful."

Aayla took her wand without hesitation. The look of wonder that came across the twi'lek's face was only outdone by the bright glow that emitted from her body as she held onto her new wand. "Force." Aayla breathed as the glow died down and she closed her eyes and lightly touched her forehead to the smooth wood. "This…there is no describing this."

"Wonderful!" Ollivander clapped before turning to the last one that would be receiving a wand that day. "Now then…I wonder which would work well for you my little friend. Perhaps…hmm…"

"A moment, Master Ollivander." Master Yoda said, holding up one clawed finger. "Believe I understand, I do. Hear its call, I can."

Ollivander smiled widely as he stepped to the side. "As you will my little friend."

Nodding, Master Yoda closed his eyes and raised his hand. A low rumble came from the back of the shop and soon enough another wand box was floating through the aisles towards Master Yoda's outstretched hand. "Bravo!" Ollivander clapped as Yoda guided the box into his outstretched hand. "Well done indeed my little friend! Six and one-half inches, yew with a thunderbird tail feather, resilient. If I may ask, how did you know my little friend?"

Opening the box, Master Yoda slowly closed his hand round the small wand inside. His eyes closed as a soft white glow encased him. He looked…pleased. Calm. Almost…happy. Happier than Ahsoka could ever remember him being before. "Heard its call, I did." Master Yoda said as he opened his eyes. 'Force! Are those…are those tears? No…no he can't be…wait…he is! Master Yoda is…he's crying tears of joy!'

"Master Yoda?" Master Secura said worriedly as she knelt down next to the small former Jedi Grandmaster.

"Yes." Master Yoda nodded solemnly as Ollivander ducked back behind his desk before popping back up with several small leather bracers.

As he started handing them out, it took Ahsoka a moment to realize that she was holding onto two wand holsters. The same type that Harry had attached to either wrist. "One to hold your wand and the other to hold your lightsaber." Harry explained as he took one of the bracers from her before gently taking her arm and securing it so that the bulk of the bracer was on the bottom of her forearm. "Here, place the end of your wand right here near this line. It will automatically be drawn into the containment pouch within the bracer."

 _'Damn it! Stop that!_ ' Ahsoka cursed herself as she felt her skin warm under Harry's fingers. Her only condolence was that she could feel a slight tremor coming from Harry as well. At Harry's fingers left her, Ahsoka maneuvered her wand enough so that the end just barely touched the line Harry had pointed out to her. The moment her wand touched the line it was drawn into the bracer like a vacuum. Then mimicking the action she'd seen Harry and Master Nox perform a hundred times, Ahsoka snapped her hand out to the side. Immediately her wand shot back out, but amazingly it didn't go past her palm until she grabbed hold of it.

"This is incredible." She said, marveling at the device on her wrist.

Around her, the other former-Jedi all expressed their own appreciation for the holsters as they all began to experiment with them using their wands. Testing them with their lightsabers would have to wait until they were back at the Temple.

Tucking her wand back into her holster, Ahsoka bowed deeply to the wandmaker. "Thank you very much for your assistance, Master Ollivander."

"No need for such formalities my dear." Ollivander smiled brightly. "You were all such challenging matches. I haven't this much fun in over a decade or more! I may have to give Madam Nox a discount because of how much fun I had. Just remember to take good care of them. Take care of your wand, and it will take care of you."

With those parting words, the eccentric wandmaker bowed to them all once more before turning around and heading back into the depths of his shop. "Well then," Master Kento said after a moment of silence. "That was…certainly different. But I think I understand now why Nox was adamant that we obtain wands from here." Pausing, Kento held his wand up to eye level. "I've never felt so connected with the Force as I do when I'm holding this."

"Same." Mallie nodded holding her own wand. "It's…Force this is going to take some getting used to."

For a while the group just sat there in the store admiring their new wands. Nearly ten minutes later, Master Yoda broke the silence that'd descended upon them. "Return to the Temple now, I will." He said putting his wand away. "Much to meditate on, I have."

"As you wish, Master Yoda." Master Secura said bowing to Yoda, who hardly hesitated before reaching up grabbing hold of his pendant before disappearing with a slight cracking noise.

"Well then," Mallie announced as a slow grin came upon her. "I don't know about the rest of you, but Nox gave us all some money and I saw a bookstore back in the alley. So that's where I'm heading."

"I'll go with you luv." Kento added before turning towards Aayla. "Aayla want to come with us? Leave the kids to have some fun on their own?"

"I may as well." Aayla nodded. "The library at the Temple is quite extensive. But I am curious to see what else this world has to offer. Harry, Ahsoka, Nat. Stay safe."

"We will, Master Secura." Ahsoka said with a bow before the three Masters left the store. "So then, where should we go from-" A loud growling coming from Nat interrupted what she'd been about to say, making both Harry and Ahsoka turn towards the small girl.

For her part, Nat was holding her arms across her stomach while looking more than slightly embarrassed. "Well, I guess our first order of business should be getting some form of snack." Harry laughed while looping an arm around Nat's shoulders. "Lucky for you two, I happen to know the perfect place for a truly Earth snack. Follow me my ladies."

Smiling to herself, Ahsoka walked side by side with Harry and Nat out of the store and back down the street. After passing a few shops that Ahsoka made a mental note to go and visit later, Harry came to a stop outside of a shop with a sign that read 'Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour'. "What is this place?" She asked as Harry held the door open for the two of them.

"Probably the best ice cream parlor in the entire world." Harry answered back before leading the two of them towards a large glass counter.

Just behind the glass, there were dozens of buckets of what looked like…some sort of frozen cream or lard or…something. "Well hello there!" An elderly looking man with dark hair and a dark beard said as he stepped out from a back room and up to the counter. "Welcome! What can I get you?"

"Wondering if we can get a few samples Mr. Fortescue." Harry said.

Then something strange happened. The man, Mr. Fortescue, stared at Harry. Blinked. Then looked up at Harry's forehead before his eyes widened almost comically. "Good Merlin…you're Harry Potter!"

Beside her, Harry flinched slightly. "Yes sir."

Mr. Fortescue stared completely awestruck for a second longer before giving himself a visible shake. "Sorry about that lad," he said sounding quite apologetic. "You see, my wife, Merlin bless her soul, was a muggle born. And well, her family got a little visit from the Dark Wanker, pardon my language las, during the last war. So I'm…well I'm sure I don't need to go into details. Sorry, what can I get you three?"

"It's okay Mr. Fortescue. We all suffered during that time, even those of us who don't remember it." Harry said sounding incredibly sad. "Well Nat, Ahsoka. What looks good to you two?"

For the next ten minutes Nat and Ahsoka, mostly Nat as Ahsoka was more than slightly distracted by the pain that was still etched across Harry's face, picked out several flavors of the…ice cream. Each time they picked one out, Mr. Florean would grab a small plastic spoon and scoop up a little bit of the frozen treat and hand it over to them. Despite her previous reservations about the food, Ahsoka found that she actually quite enjoyed the treat. It even seemed to perk Harry up, which in turn made her feel lighter as well.

After trying just about every other flavor Mr. Florean had available, the three of them had finally picked out a flavor and each ordered a bowl of their choosing. Dropping a few gold coins on the table, Harry picked up the three bowls and led them over to a small table just outside of the shop.

Nat didn't wait any time in digging into her treat. Which after three large bits was half gone and Nat was holding her head. "Careful Nat." Harry laughed as he pushed the bowl away from her slightly. "If you eat it too fast the cold will hurt your head a little. Try to enjoy it okay?"

Nodding, Nat took her treat back and began eating it at a much slower pace. "Harry," Ahsoka said carefully as she took a bite from her own bowl. "I don't mean to stir up bad feelings again, but what was Mr. Florean talking about back there?"

Harry stilled for a second making Ahsoka want to kick herself. "You remember us talking about the last war right? The one where my parents died?" Harry waited for her to nod before continuing. "Well there was a bit more to the war. You see the Dark Lord was obsessed with blood purity. If you weren't human or if you weren't born to two magical parents then you were less than an animal in his and his supporters' eyes. And during the war, he didn't just target individuals that he deemed lesser. He went after their families. And it was never quick either. And he didn't limit himself to those he thought lesser of. Anyone who didn't support him lived in fear of him showing up. And what was worse, he cast a complicated spell called a 'Taboo' on his name."

"What do you mean by that?" Ahsoka asked, her ice cream momentarily forgotten as she leaned forward against the table.

"It means that anyone who said his name were not only marked so that he could travel to them instantly." Harry continued. "Wards, barriers and even distance didn't matter. If you said his name, he would show up and kill you if you were lucky. If not…then it would take a while. My grandparents on my father's side were both magical and from two very prominent magical families. But because they didn't support him the Dark Lord killed them both personally. My grandparents on my mother's side were both non-magical. And despite my mother's best efforts to hide them, the Dark Lord found them and used them to send a very pointed message to my mother and father."

The pain in Harry's voice was such that Ahsoka couldn't help herself as she reached across the table and lightly grasped his hand. As she felt his hand grasp back, she made a vow to herself. If this Dark Lord came back, then she would do whatever she could to make sure that he died. Permanently this time.

"Well, that's enough depressing history." Harry said as he finished his bowl of ice cream. "What do you say that you finish your bowl and we go shopping? My mother gave each of us a hundred galleons, and you'd be surprised at just how far that will get us."

Looking down, Ahsoka realized that she was the only one left at the table that still had a full bowl full of ice cream. Eating it quickly, and wincing more than slightly as the cold made her head ache slightly, she nodded. "Sounds good to me." She said standing. "Well Nat, which store would you like to go and visit first?"

Nat didn't even hesitate. "The broom store!"

Harry and Ahsoka shared a look and started laughing. "Well, that was easy enough." Harry laughed. "I don't we'll be able to buy a broom with just a hundred galleons, but we can still look around." Reaching down, he took Nat's hand and led them out into the alley.

Ahsoka wasn't quite sure what possessed her to do what she did next. Maybe it was because she just wanted to offer Harry some comfort after such a depressing conversation, but as the trio walked out in the alley she reached out and took Harry's free hand in her own. Harry stared at her for only a moment before squeezing back and smiling.

 _'Damn it.'_ She cursed herself when her heart started racing as Harry didn't let go. ' _He's just a friend and I'm just offering some small amount of comfort! That's it!'_

* * *

Stepping into the domain of the goblins, Nox didn't bother suppressing her smirk as she waltzed right past the dozens of witches and wizards who were waiting in line and past the tellers at the back of the bank. The goblins, much to the shock of the magicals present, didn't even attempt to stop her. Instead they nearly fell over themselves to open the door leading towards the back offices of the bank.

"Madam Nox!"

Nox briefly slowed her pace as she allowed her bank manager Griphook to catch up with her. "Griphook. I trust that you have good news for me."

"Yes ma'am." Griphook nodded as he practically ran to keep pace with her. "Profits for this quarter are well above expectations. I managed to secure the rights to three different potions for you and your company as well. Due to the large withdrawal to the goblin nation for the construction of your new base of operations, your predicted end of the year loss will only be fifteen percent from the start of the year."

Nox just barely kept herself from smiling. Fifteen percent loss was quite a bit better than what she was hoping for. At best she figured that she would be at a twenty percent loss since the beginning of the year. "Well done Griphook." Nox nodded to the goblin. "Should you succeed in making my losses only fifteen percent you shall receive a five percent bonus this year. Should you somehow manage to get my net loss down to less than ten percent, then I shall up your bonus to fifteen percent."

Griphook's grin was positively feral. Nox was quite sure that the little goblin would now be doing anything to get her net loss as low as possible. "Yes ma'am. I shall endeavor to do as you wish. Will you require my services for your meeting with Master Ragnok?"

"Yes." Nox nodded as the two approached the doors leading to Ragnok's office came into view. "I have a new proposal for Master Ragnok and will need you to take notes."

"As you wish, Madam Nox." Griphook nodded while two goblin warriors opened the doors to Master Ragnok's office for the two of them.

The office was just as Nox remembered it, not that she necessarily expected it to change. "Madam Nox." Master Ragnok said, standing from his desk and in a rare moment of respect bowed his head slightly towards her. "I trust that your little summer venture was most…beneficial."

"Yes." Nox responded as she took her seat after giving the leader of the goblins a slight bow of her own. "Far more than I anticipated. And I must say, I was more than pleased with the Temple when I arrived at its door. Your men and my own did far better than I ever thought possible in a short period of time."

Laughing, Ragnok leaned back in his seat. "Well, the bonus was definitely an added incentive for my workers. Now, I hear that you have another business venture for us. Let's hear it."

Knowing that she had his attention, Nox calmly reached over his desk and poured herself a glass of pitch black whiskey that was sitting on his desk. After pouring herself two fingers of the liquid, she sat back down and took a small sip. "What if I were to tell you that I knew of a mineral source filled to the brim with more materials than you could ever imagine that has never been touched. And then what if I told you that I was currently the only one with access to said mineral source and was willing to hire goblin miners at their normal rate plus sending back ten percent of all profits back to the goblin nation."

Ragnok stared at her for a full minute, no doubt trying to gauge whether or not she was being entirely truthful. Eventually he smiled, a crooked wicked smile, and poured himself a large glass of the black whiskey. "If it were any other witch or wizard I would have you thrown out into the street. But with you…I would ask who you would like to have killed and have their corpses decorating the walls of the Ministry by nightfall."

"No need for killing Master Ragnok, at least not yet." Nox responded while taking another small sip. "And this won't be like any other mining venture you've seen before. In fact, it will be quite dangerous."

Ragnok merely shrugged. "Mining is always potentially deadly. Part of the reason why we goblins love it so much."

"I rather expected as much." Nox admitted before polishing off the rest of her whiskey. "I need to design and build several things before we will be able to even entertain the idea of mining this area. Probably a year or more. And even once they are ready we will need to install them near the mining site before we can begin operations. At best, we're talking maybe two years out before we will be able to bring back any useable material."

Ragnok's eyebrows were now nearly level with his hair line. "I must say Madam Nox. My interest in this project has become quite peaked. But before we go any further I must ask. Where exactly is this mineral source that you speak of?"

Setting down her glass, Nox fixed Ragnok with a grin. "Tell me Master Ragnok…are you afraid of flying?"

* * *

Following his mother up into the stands of the arena, Harry couldn't help but marvel as they walked into the large luxury box that she'd purchased for the game. "Whoa," Harry breathed as he stepped fully into the large room that was overlooking the quidditch pitch. "This is…this is incredible!"

Several similar comments came from behind him as disguised Ahsoka, Nat, Aayla along with a normal looking Kento, Mallie, Galen and Tonks came into the box with them. There were over two dozen large comfortable seats within the luxury box and along the back wall there was a long table that held several different pitchers of drink and dozens of trays of food. Harry wasn't quite sure just how much his mother spent on this box, but he was sure that she probably could've bought a new tower for the temple with it.

"This is an impressive sight to behold." Kento whistled as he neared the edge of the box and looked down at the nearly hundred or so rows of seats stacked beneath them. "How many people are there here? And are they all Force sensitive?"

"Probably nearly a twentieth of Earth's Force sensitive population is here at the moment. Nearly three hundred thousand if my estimations are correct." Nox answered as she too peered down in the pitch. "And all of them are Force sensitive."

Nodding, Kento moved away from the edge just as Aayla came up to it. "This box is far too large for all of us," the disguised twi'lek commented. "I gather that the younger members of the Order shall be joining us?"

"And their families. I thought this would be a good chance for you to experience more of the magical world's culture." Nox nodded before turning so she could was facing them all. "Now while I trust all of the young ones and some the parents, there are still a few others that have not been told everything for one reason or another. So I must ask that until I tell you too, keep your glamour amulets on and try to refrain from speaking of the greater galaxy. Understand?" While the former Jedi didn't look too thrilled at the prospect of keeping such information from those they considered to be allies, all nodded their consent. "Good. Now…I believe our first visitors are about to arrive."

Harry already knew who their first visitors were going to be. After all…he'd sensed his apprentice's presence getting steadily closer ever since they entered the box. Hearing the door to the box open, Harry turned around to see Arthur Weasley cautiously entering the box with Molly Weasley right behind him. "Madam Nox!" Arthur exclaimed as he gave her a slight bow as Weasley children entered the luxury box behind him. "Thank you so much for the invitation."

"Think nothing of it Arthur." His mother said with a smile as she motioned for him to stand upright. "And please, you know that I'm not one for formalities."

"Of course Ziri." Arthur smiled back before he turned towards Harry. "Harry, it's good to see you again."

"You as well sir." Harry answered back with a polite nod of his head.

Arthur then turned to the other occupants of the room and froze slightly as he realized that he didn't know anyone else in the box. "Umm, good day."

"These are associates of mine Arthur." His mother said taking pity on the clearly unsure man. "This is Kento and Mallie and their son Galen. This one here is Aayla Secura. And the two standing next to Harry are Ahsoka and Nat."

"A pleasure to meet you all." Arthur said, a little more confident this time around. "This is my wife Molly. My oldest son and heir William, or as he likes to be called: Bill. And these are our other children Fred, George, Ron and Ginny. Unfortunately two of my sons, Percy and Charlie, were unable to join us today."

Harry nearly laughed as he saw Mallie's eyebrows rise at the number of children while Kento quietly mutter, "Seven? Good gods."

Grinning, Ginny made her away across the box towards Harry, Ahsoka and Nat while Ron nodded politely to them before not-so-stealthily making his way towards the large buffet set up in the back of the box. "I see you managed to get all of your brothers corralled together on time." Harry joked.

"Don't remind me." Ginny scowled, throwing a withering glare over her shoulder at her older brothers. "I swear…mum was on a tear through the house this morning. We were all stuck standing at the portkey departure point at least an hour before it was even supposed to go off!"

"I take it that they're being on time is some sort of inside joke?" Ahsoka asked while Nat was looking back and forth clearly confused.

"Yup." Harry nodded while smiling at Ginny. "There is usually a running bet on whether the Weasleys will be at the train station on time to catch the train to Hogwarts or not. And there's usually a side bet as well on how many times they have to run back to their home to get something they forgot."

"Shut up Potter." Ginny growled, making the three of them laugh.

Behind them, the door to the box opened once again. This time it was Sirius who was escorting the Granger family. And right behind them was Susan and Amelia, as well as Hannah and her parents. After another quick round of introductions the door to their box opened once more. All four members of the Greengrass family made their way into the luxury box, followed quickly by Tracey and her father. And just behind them, Luna and her father made their way in as well.

"Well then," his mother said loudly enough to get everyone's attention. "Now that we are all here, please feel free to enjoy yourselves. And yes Ronald…that means that you can start in on the buffet table now."

Everyone laughed slightly at the now red-faced teen who, despite his embarrassment at being caught hovering around the buffet table, wasn't shy about digging in as soon as he was given the go ahead to. While the rest of the stadium below them slowly started filling up with people, the large group within the luxury box all sat around eating and chatting with one another. Harry noticed out of the corner of his eye that Bill Weasley and Mallie were locked in an animated discussion after his mother had casually asked Bill if his team had any luck deciphering the pyramid they'd discovered two years back.

During the course of the talks, Harry noticed as his mother picked up her drink and brought it to her lips, only to stop. Harry frowned as his mother looked down at her cup for a moment before taking a drink. Deciding that it wasn't really worth his time, he focused in again on the conversation that was going on between Ginny, Ahsoka and Nat. The former of whom was trying her best to explain all of the rules of Quidditch to the latter two.

Just as Harry was about to add to the conversation, Mrs. Weasley cried out in shock making all of the Guardians in the room jump to their feet and snap their hands out to the side in preparation of drawing their lightsabers or wands. Harry's wand however never made it into his hand. And the few lightsabers that'd been drawn were quickly and discreetly tucked back away with thankfully no one being the wiser to their presence.

"Fred, George?" Arthur said slowly as Harry blinked dumbly. "What…?"

Fred and George were both standing stock still, blinking at one another as they tried to figure out what'd just happened. Both of them were completely…pink. From their hair, to their skin…and even their clothes. Every inch of their body was pink!

"I'm afraid your sons picked the wrong target for a prank Arthur." Harry's mother said calmly. And for the first time, Harry realized his mother hadn't stood up with the rest of them. She was still in her seat and still sipping on her drink. "They slipped something into my drink…so I simply gave it back to them."

Realization dawned on Arthur as his face fell and Molly rounded on her two sons and started screaming at the both of them. Harry stared at the two boys who were being thoroughly dressed down by their mother and…and couldn't hold in the slightly snicker that left him. Which quickly grew into a fully belly laugh as Ahsoka, Ginny and even Nat started laughing along with him. Soon enough the entire room was laughing at the duo who, to their credit, tried to strike a dignified pose.

"Madam Nox." Molly Weasley said turning around towards his mother, her face completely pale. "I'm– I'm so sorry! I'll take these two home and-"

"Oh there's no need for that Molly." His mother said with a smile. "I must admit that their attempt, while sloppy, was rather...stimulating. I haven't had anyone try to pull anything like this on me in years." Out of the corner of his eye Harry briefly saw Sirius flinch as his hand quickly shifted over to cover his 'bits'. _'Really don't want to know…_ '

"Fred." George said turning towards his twin.

"George." Fred said back.

"I think we've been outdone."

"I think you're right brother o'mine."

As one they turned towards Harry's mother and bowed deeply. "We are humbled Madam! Teach us!"

Setting her drink down, his mother idly tapped a finger to her lips. "Hmm…perhaps. You two have talent that is for sure. And it'd be a wasteful if you two were not given the opportunity to flourish. Tell you what. Come to me after you two graduate and I'm sure I can find a proper use for your talents. I'll even throw in a bonus incentive as well." Rising from her seat, his mother made her way across the room until she was standing in front of the twins. "Work for me. And I'll front the startup costs to that joke shop you keep talking to Sirius about."

Fred and George both looked at one another for all of two seconds before falling down to their knees and pressing their faces close to his mother's feet. "We are yours! Use us as you wish Madam!" Both twins exclaimed in unison as they attempted to kiss her feet.

"Careful what you offer me boys." His mother smirked while backpedaling away from the twins attempts at kissing her feet.

Arthur and Molly expressions were continuously switching back and forth from pleased, to excited and to mortified as his mother made her way back to her seat. "Thank you for doing that Madam Nox." Bill said graciously. "Those two have wanted to open a joke shop since they were old enough to walk and talk. You just made their dreams come true."

"It wasn't charity on my part." His mother responded as she sat back down as Fred and George, while in the process of being scolded by their mother to keep their grades up to please Madam Nox, pulled out two vials and downed them. "I intend to make the two of them earn that shop of theirs while they work for me."

Whatever was in the vials that Fred and George just drank apparently wasn't working as both twins looked down at the empty containers in their hands in confusion. "Did you make the batch wrong Fred?"

"No. Did you grab the wrong vials George?"

"No."

"Then."

"Why isn't the counter working?"

"Because when I used that switching spell to trade our drinks I also altered the potion that you tried to slip into my drink." His mother said loudly and clearly. "That counter potion you have won't work boys. Oh, and neither will any glamour spells and if you change your clothes they too will change color."

Fred and George stared at his mother. Then at each other. Then turned back to his mother. "We are not worthy!" Both proclaimed while falling to their knees once again and repeatedly bowing to his mother.

Their bowing ended quite abruptly as both Susan and Daphne walked up behind the duo as they were down and pressed down on their backs with their feet. "You're annoying." Daphne remarked as she held a struggling Fred faced down on the ground.

"Just be good little boys, and we might help you undo what Madam Nox just did to the both of you once the game is over." Susan added as the two smirked at one another before lifting their feet up off of the twins and walking away.

"Thank you girls." His mother said with a smile as she picked up her drink. "And just in time, it looks like our esteemed Minister is about to announce the start of the game."

 _ **"Good evening ladies and gentlemen!"**_ Came the booming voice of the Minister of Magic. _**"As the British Minister of Magic, I, Cornelius Fudge, do welcome you all to the 422nd Quidditch World Cup featuring Ireland versus Bulgaria!"**_ The crowd's roaring applause was nearly deafening. In fact, poor little Nat and even Ahsoka both involuntarily reached up to their heads in an effort to block out some of the noise. " _ **Thank you. And without further ado, I hereby turn the commentary over to our match commentator for the evening, former beater for the Wimbourne Wasps, Mr. Ludovic Bagman!"**_

 _ **"Thank you Minister Fudge."**_ A new cultured voice said _ **. "Once again, I am Ludo Bagman, and I welcome you all to the 422nd Quidditch World Cup brought to you by Butterbeer, Pumpkin Juice, Gringotts Wizarding Bank and the Nimbus 2001! And now, without further ado I present to you your Irish National Team!"**_

The crowd roared again as the Irish team, dressed in flowing green and white robes, shot out from near the lower edge of the stands and started circling around the pitch. As they did, Harry noticed a large group of small creatures pouring out onto the field. Once they were all out, the small creatures began making various symbols and gestures in support of their team. "Harry," Ahsoka said lowering her voice while leaning into him as Nat ran towards the edge of the box so she could watch as the Irish flew past them with fascination. "What are those small life-forms down on the field?"

"Leprechauns if I'm not mistaken." Harry answered straining his eyes to see towards the bottom of the pitch. "Little mischievous creatures that are native to Ireland. Usually harmless…but they have a penchant for stealing and hoarding shiny things."

After making several laps around the pitch, the Irish team took up positions around the south end of the field just as Bagman began speaking once again. _**"And now ladies and gentlemen. I present to you your Bulgarian National Team!"**_

From the other side of the field, the seven members of the Bulgarian team, dressed in dark red robes, shot out from the stands right for the Irish team. The Irish just barely managed to scatter in time for the Bulgarians to pass them by, earning more than a few cheers and boos from the crowd. "That wasn't very nice." Nat scowled as she sat back down next to Harry.

"Strategy." Ginny shrugged. "Put the Irish off balance early…and technically what they did wasn't against the rules either."

As the Bulgarian team circled around, Harry heard a chant of 'Krum' start up. As Harry watched a single member of the Bulgarian team separated himself from the rest and made his way to the center of the arena while pumping his fist into the air. "That's Viktor Krum." Ginny commented with more than a little bit of awe in her voice. "He's the youngest player, let alone Seeker, to play on a national team ever!"

Smirking at his apprentice, Harry nudged her. "So…when's the wedding?" Ginny blushed at that and he received a backhand from her and a slap upside the head from Ahsoka. "Hey! What was that for?"

"For being mean." Ahsoka commented with a smirk.

"For being an arse." Ginny said, before blushing and looking away. "Besides…Quidditch notwithstanding, he's just not my type. Plus I'm all for the Irish in this game."

Just as Harry was about to comment back, he felt a pull against his mind. No. Not a pull. More like someone just knocked him upside the head with ten bludgeoning hexes. He needed to get his barriers up. But then…why should he? This was…pleasant. "Ginny…what's going with your brothers?"

Ahsoka's voice made Harry blink as he slammed his barriers firmly in place. Blinking, he looked over towards the Weasley family. Fred, George and Ron were all trying to walk towards the edge of the box while Arthur, who was blinking rapidly, drew his wand and forced the three back into the seats.

"Veela." Bill answered calmly from his seat while nodding down towards the bottom of the pitch.

Following Bill's line of sight, Harry saw that the Bulgarian mascots had taken the field. He had to do a double take and rub his eyes to actually believe what he was seeing. For on the field were a dozen beautiful blond haired women who were wearing…well he wasn't quite sure if a single strip across their chest and a transparent skirt with another strip to provide some decency constituted clothes. And all of them were dancing more than slightly erotically.

"That's different." Kento commented while rubbing his eyes. "I could feel a pull on my mind telling me to go to them and…well somethings are better left unsaid with young ones around."

"Veela are incredible. In more ways than one." Bill remarked as he leaned forward to better watch the women dance while Hermione and her father joined in the efforts to keep the three younger Weasley boys from jumping over the railing. "They have a natural affinity for fire. They can create it and control it without a wand. They can also transform into a half-human half-bird hybrid that is incredibly dangerous. But their greatest ability is their 'allure'. This is a subconscious technique which amplifies their attraction a thousand fold. Making many, like my idiot brothers over there, act like complete idiots."

Harry noticed that Ahsoka was giving him a strange look before she quickly turned back to Bill. "But how come it isn't affecting Ha– you or some of the others in here?"

Bill smiled slightly. "Well there are two ways to resist their allure. First you have to be extremely skilled in mind arts, like myself. The second," Bill paused slightly to shot Harry a wink before continuing. "Is that you need to be completely and utterly devoted to someone already. But as you can see, sometimes it doesn't work."

Looking over the edge, Harry noticed several men, and even some women, were trying their best to climb over the stands while others were trying their best to hold them back. "However those two techniques only really work with the subconscious and wide area allure." Bill continued. "If a Veela actually focused her allure on a specific individual they could become a blubbering wreck. That's why Veela are always careful when choosing a mate. If their chosen mate isn't strong willed enough, then while their shagging they-"

"I think that's enough Bill!" Molly cried out as she rushed over and slapped her eldest son upside the head. "We don't need to know the specifics! Now come over here and help your father with your brothers!"

But Bill's help wasn't needed as the Veela were escorted off the field by a group of female Hit Wizards. _**"Well then,"**_ Bagman's voice was more than slightly shaky as he began speaking again. _**"Now that our teams are on the field our referee for the game, Hassan Mostafa has come out onto the field as both teams take up their positions. The captains meet coast towards one another in the center of the field. The handshake is done. The snitch and the bludgers are out. Mostafa has the quaffle…and the game is underway!"**_

In the time it took Harry to blink, the players had all disappeared from their starting positions and were now scattered all across the field. 'Force…this is a lot faster than the games at school.'

 _ **"And the Irish have the quaffle…Troy catches the long pass. He weaves. Dives. Throws lef – no fake! And it's in! The first goal of the game has been scored by Troy from Ireland making the score 10-0 in favor of the Irish! Zograf takes the quaffle and throws it back into play-"**_

Leaning back in his seat, Harry let a small smile cross his lips as he watched the game. Beside him, Ahsoka was on the edge of her seat as she watched with wide eyes while on his other side; Nat had vacated her seat in favor for standing pressed up against the barrier railing so she could watch every moment of the game.

After twenty minutes of gameplay, Ireland had taken a commanding lead of the game by racking up a hundred and thirty points to Bulgaria's ten. Krum, who was the only reason why the Irish didn't have a larger lead, went completely vertical as he rocketed towards the bottom of the pitch. The Irish seeker, Lynch, took off immediately after him. As Lynch drew even with Krum, the Bulgarian seeker sped up even faster, forcing Lynch to follow suit. But just when there was less than a few meters separating the two racing seekers from the ground, Krum pulled up sharply on his broom. Lynch, momentarily distracted by Krum's sudden disappearance, didn't have time to react and ended up crashing into the ground.

 _ **"Oh, and a perfect Wronski Feint performed by Krum has sunk Lynch into the turf. Medi-wizards and medi-witches are rushing out onto the field. Krum is now circling the pitch solo and– and Ireland scores again! Score one-forty to ten!"**_

"Why did he do that?" Nat asked as she turned around just enough to look at Harry.

Before he could answer, Ginny beat him to it. "Because he needs to end the game quickly. The Irish chasers are scoring left and right and his team isn't able to keep up. So the only way they can win is for him to catch the snitch before Ireland gets ahead by more than one-hundred and fifty points."

"And the best way to do that is if he's the only…seeker on the field." Ahsoka nodded along. "Brutal tactic."

"But effective." Harry countered. "Now Ireland will have to keep an eye out on Krum or they need to try and score three more times before Krum finds the snitch. And– there he goes."

Out on the field, Krum took off like a shot. Even with how far away they were from him, Harry could just barely make out the small golden sphere flying desperately just in front of Krum. Just as Krum was beginning to reach out for the small orb, one of the Irish beaters sent a well-aimed bludger right at Krum. With his focus solely on the snitch, Krum didn't even see the bludger until it'd hit him right square in the face forcing him to stop his pursuit as he lost sight of the snitch as he lost sight of the golden orb and was forced to head down to the medi-wizards for aid.

"Well, I guess turnaround is fair play." Harry shrugged as Krum was released by the medi-wizards and went back up into the air. A short time later the Irish seeker was released by the medi-wizards and shot back up into the field of play and the game picked up again exactly where it'd left off.

Twenty minutes later and the game had come to an almost standstill. The Bulgarian team had shot twice more, but both of the shots had been blocked by the keeper while the Irish had shot three times with only one managing to get in making the score one hundred and fifty to ten.

 _ **"And that is another goal for Ireland! Making the score now one hundred and sixty to ten and– wait. Krum is on the move! And Lynch is speeding right behind him is this– no. There is the snitch! Both seekers are now neck and neck as they race around the pitch! Oh my, ladies and gentlemen it does not get any closer than this!"**_

"But he can't catch the snitch now." Nat said, as she practically starting bouncing up and down from the excitement of the game.

"Actually he needs to catch it now." Harry said back sitting forward in his seat slightly. It was a good game after all.

"But they'll tie, won't they?" Ahsoka asked as she too moved forward.

"No." Ginny said shaking her head. "In the event of the tie, the team that catches the snitch is declared the winner. All Bulgaria needs to do is hold onto the quaffle until Krum catches the snitch an-"

 _ **"Dropped quaffle! Ireland recovers and is now racing for the rings!"**_

"Now the real race begins." Harry smiled feeling his heart race. "Krum has to catch the snitch before Ireland can score otherwise he needs to break off his chase and get the other seeker to back off as well."

Krum had his arm outstretched, his fingers reaching just slightly further than Lynch's as both men stretched out for the small golden snitch. Throwing his off hand back, Krum managed to distract Lynch just enough so that Krum was able to grasp hold of the golden snitch…just after Ireland scored another goal.

 _ **"And the snitch is caught! The final score…Bulgaria one hundred and sixty. Ireland…one hundred and seventy! Witches and wizards! Ireland is your 422nd Quidditch World Champions!"**_

Leaning back in his seat, Harry let out a breath. "Well…that was exciting."

"That was…umm…wicked!" Nat said after a moment's hesitation. "Can we watch another game?"

"That was over a lot sooner than I thought it'd be." Sirius commented as the two teams began converging on the announcer's box, which had converted itself to a large stage for the presentation of the World Cup. "The last world cup lasted for two full days. This one was barely an hour."

"It was fairly exciting though." Dan Granger said rising to his feet before holding out his hand to help his wife to hers. "Thank you very much for inviting us Ms. Nox. I must say, I can understand now why my daughter is always so eager to return to school at the end of each summer."

"Think nothing of it Dan." His mother said as she too got to her feet. "And again, you and your family are more than welcome to stay with us for the night."

"Thank you, but we're going to have to decline." Emma Granger responded politely. "Dan and I still have a practice to run in the morning."

"I understand." His mother nodded before holding out a small metal ring roughly the size of her hand. "If you three will grab hold, this will take you back to your home."

After saying their goodbyes to Hermione for the night, the Grangers took hold of the portkey. Although neither looked too thrilled as they knew what was about to happen next. "Is it too late to say that I really don't care for these things?" Dan asked with a grimace as Nox drew her wand.

"Yes." She smiled before touching the ring with her wand, making the three Grangers disappear with a crack. "Well then, I invite the rest of you to stay with us if you wish. We have a tent set up not too far from here. And it would be a waste to run off before all of the celebrations are done."

As they left the luxury box and made their way back towards their campsite, both Evelyn and Cyrus Greengrass left but gave their blessing for Daphne and Astoria to stay with them. Xenophilius left as well, claiming that he'd managed to secure a press pass for after the game and wanted to ask the Bulgarian players if it was true they trained by being chased by vampires.

The Abbotts and Mr. Davis left as well, after securing promises from their respective daughters that they would be on their best behavior and that they would return first thing in the morning. Arthur, Molly and Bill Weasley left as well despite his mother's attempts to get them to stay for the night. By the time they reached their campsite, their group had been reduced down to the ones that'd gone on the trip into space plus Sirius, Amelia, Fred and George. The two former, of which were currently out, were talking to some official or other.

Leaning back in his seat within the tent, Harry sipped on his butterbeer as he and Ahsoka watched as both Fred and George, who were still pink from head to toe having failed to find a way to undo whatever his mother had done, danced a jig with one another as Nat tried her best to match their movements while laughing uproariously. "Those two are rather lively aren't they?" Ahsoka asked as she took another large gulp of her drink. "And what is this? It's delicious!"

"It's butterbeer." Harry answered with a smile as Nat laughed as Fred grabbed her hand and led her in another dance. _'Thank Merlin those talismans fool not only the eyes, but the sense of touch as well._ ' "Probably one of, if not the, most popular drinks in the magical world. And yes, those two are always worth a good laugh or two."

As he watched the party go on around him, Harry froze as he felt a ripple in the Force. Beside him he saw Ahsoka stiffen slightly as well. Something bad was about to happen, or was happening. Looking around, he saw that Aayla, Kento and Mallie were all frowning in concentration while his mother stood up from her seat and made her way towards the entrance to the tent.

Just as she was about to reach it, the flap flew open allowing a clearly out of breath Sirius to rush in. While the flap was still open, Harry could just barely hear the sounds of people running by and…screaming? Before anyone could ask Sirius what was going on he pulled out his wand and the music that was floating through the tent ended. "We need to leave. Now."

"What's going on?" Nox asked.

"I don't know for sure." Sirius answered while biting his lip. "Amelia got a distress call that someone has taken the muggle owners of this land hostage and are currently marching through the camp destroying whatever they can and throwing curses and hexes at anyone who gets in their way."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Harry asked rising to his feet only a split second before Ahsoka, Daphne and Susan all stood as well.

"You will not be going anywhere young man."

His mother's words stopped him dead. "Mother?"

Taking a step towards him, his mother spoke in a low tone so that only the two of them could hear her words while Sirius ran past them telling everyone else to grab whatever they needed and that they would come back later for everything else. "I know you can handle whatever is going on out there my son." His mother said. "But now is not the time for you to show yourself. We must be patient. Go with everyone else. Get them to safety. The Masters and I will deal with this."

Harry wanted to press the issue, but the look in his mother's eye stopped whatever he'd been about to say. "As you wish, mother."

Then without warning, Harry felt his mother's arm wrap around him and pull his head into her. "There will be a time when you will no longer have to hide yourself my son." She said soothingly. "But that time has not yet come to pass. Be patient. Soon you will deliver justice to those who wronged you all those years ago."

Leaning into his mother's embrace, Harry nodded his head. "Yes mother."

"Good." She said pulling back from him as he voice took on the same commanding tone it'd had back when they rescued Ahsoka. "Sirius, head back to Amelia and help to organize the Aurors and Hit-wizards to help get the civilians away from these terrorists. Kento, Mallie, Aayla and I will be with you shortly to lend you our assistance."

It took Harry all of two seconds to decipher his mother's plan. It was brilliant. Sirius would go back to Amelia and get her to move the Aurors and Hit-wizards out of the way while providing the four of them with an alibi. Then the Masters would confront the terrorists free from any outsider hindrances from the Ministry.

Harry could see the wheels turning in Sirius's head as he too deciphered his mother's plan. "Right." He said moving towards the tent. "I'll head back to Amelia. It should only take me two minutes to find her. Hopefully this whole debacle will be over in ten minutes."

After Sirius left, Luna walked over to Mallie and took custody of sleeping Galen. Harry reached out and took hold of Nat's hand while the rest of his friends as well as a non-pink Fred and George gathered near the entrance to the tent. As Harry pulled the flap back, his ears were assaulted with the screams of panicked witches and wizards as they ran by as well as the sounds of distant explosions. "Alright." He said tightening his hold on Nat's hand. "Stay close everyone. Let's move!"

* * *

After making sure that Harry and the others were a fair distance away from the tent, Nox ducked back in and marched past her three Guardian Masters towards the back of the tent. "So let me guess," Kento said solemnly as she used her wand to summon a large trunk from her room. "We're not going to be just, 'helping people get away'."

"We will be. From a certain point of view." Reaching down into the depths of the trunk, she quickly found what she was looking for. Standing back upright, she handed a grey colored cloak to each of the former-Jedi behind her. "Put these on."

"What are they?" Aayla asked while holding the cloak up so she could inspect it. "I can feel slight…pulses in the Force coming from them."

"They're modifications of Unspeakable cloaks." Nox answered. "Amelia was able to smuggle me one of them, and I've been copying and altering them slightly. This cloak will obscure your face, your body's appearance and your voice. While you're wearing this, the only thing that people will be able to tell about you is that you were someone wearing a grey cloak."

"But why do we need to wear them?" Mallie asked.

"Because right now our greatest weapon against the approaching darkness is anonymity." Nox answered as she threw the cloak over her shoulders and allowing it to magically close so that only her head was still visible.

"Smart." Kento admitted while throwing the cloak over his own shoulders. "Okay…this whole self dressing thing is going to take a little getting used to. And speaking of which…why do you even have these with you? These don't necessarily look like your everyday…oh Force. You knew this was going to happen. Didn't you?"

"I knew there was a possibility that something might happen." She responded. "I have several contacts within the…darker elements shall we say. One of them informed me that something might happen at the world cup."

"Then why didn't you say so before?" Aayla demanded, her cloak still in her hand.

"Because I wasn't sure, and neither were they." Nox shot back. "And before you get on your typical Jedi soap box. Don't. I already talked with Amelia about the possibility of this happening, which is why she had so many of her Aurors and Hit Wizards already here. This," she accented grabbing part of her cloak, "was merely a worst case scenario."

Aayla kept quiet for a moment as she stared at Nox. No doubt trying to find some inclination that she wasn't being entire truthful. But in fact, Nox was being quite truthful. For the most part. Narcissa had told her that her husband was planning something for the quidditch world cup, but couldn't tell her what. And she had informed Amelia that there was a possibility that there could be some type of disturbance. But what was happening now was not a 'worst case scenario'.

Quite the opposite in fact. This was exactly what she wanted. A chance to reveal the Guardian Order to the world. Not that she would actually admit that to the former Jedi though. They were still too wrapped up in their old philosophy and couldn't understand the necessity of striking first.

"As you say." Aayla nodded after a moment long before she began putting the cloak around her shoulders.

Once her three Masters were dressed, Nox pulled the hood of her cloak up. It truth…she was actually fairly amazed. Despite the fact that she was wearing a hood that should've disrupted her vision, her peripherals were still perfectly fine. As the three former Jedi pulled up their hoods, the charms and runes within the cloaks took effect and the three faces were cast into darkness and their bodies became indistinguishable from one another.

"So what is our plan of attack?" One of the three figures before her asked.

"Just that." Nox responded in a voice that wasn't her own. "We clear the noncombatants and then we attack. Oh, and one last thing." Snapping both hands out to her sides, she drew both her lightsaber and her wand. "Don't hold back on these assholes. They deserve what is about to happen to them. Oh, and we only have ten minutes to make our mark. So let's move people."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Back for another chapter! Yay!**

 **Not much to say here. Just want to give a big thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorite/alerted to this story. Thank you all so much for your continuing support!**

 **As always, reviews are welcome! All I ask (again) is that you're polite. You can give criticism, as long as you're polite about it and give suggestions or hints for improvement.**

 **And lastly, a big thank you to my two beta readers HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon. Thank you guys so much for your continued help!**

 **Chapter 7**

As Nox made her way through the throngs of screaming people, none of whom even hesitated as they passed the four Masters despite their unusual clothing options, she couldn't help scoff. 'Each of these witches and wizards carry a deadly weapon with them. There are perhaps a thousand or more of them…and they all scatter like womp rats at the first sign of trouble…Force. No wonder Riddle was able to nearly crush Magical Britain last time.

Sidestepping another frantic witch, Nox spotted a stray spell fly up into the air. Following the rapidly dimming trail down to the ground, she found the nearly two dozen magicals wearing black robes and bone white masks. Above the group was an entire family: an old man, a middle aged couple, and two children. The old man was clearly dead. And the couple both had multiple lacerations running across their bodies. And the children…the children were screaming out in terror. And all the while, the ones in the black robes did nothing but laugh and occasionally throw another spell up at the family.

Tightening her grip on both her wand and lightsaber to the point where it was almost painful, she cast a quick glance towards her three companions. "K and M, secure the family first." She said, her voice heavily distorted by the cloak she was wearing. "A, you're with me. Don't show these bastards any mercy."

Not even bothering to be subtle, Nox used the Force to augment her legs as she somersaulted over the heads of at least a dozen witches and wizards before landing in the no-man's land between the Death Eaters and the rapidly retreating crowd. The moment her feet touched the ground, she watched as one the Death Eaters who had his back turned towards her fire off a spell at the child that made him scream in agony while the mother cried out for them to stop.

Nox froze for only the briefest of moments as a memory that was better left buried reared its ugly head. A mother being restrained by dozens of soldiers as she begged for mercy for her daughter while those passing by hurried along and others laughed at their misfortune. As quick as the memory came it went, and Nox felt herself fueled by rage. 'How dare they make me remember that!?'

The air crackled with the dark side as Nox raised her wand. She didn't bother with an incantation of some complex spell. Instead she channeled all of her rage into her wand before using it to cast a bout of Force lightning at the fool that'd cast the spell at the child.

The Death Eater screamed in agony as the lightning struck him in the back. But what happened next surprised even Nox, although she managed to maintain it. The man wasn't thrown back, nor was did he fall to his knees in pain. Instead the moment the lightning struck him he…disintegrated to dust that was quickly scattered by the wind.

The sudden death of one of their own made all of the other Death Eaters turn towards her as one. Their bone white masks making it impossible for her to identify their facial features. Not that she needed to see them to identify them though. Their presences were unmistakable. After all, she'd been dealing with at least half of them every other day or so for the better part of several years.

The brief respite was ended as a startled cry came from the non-magicals as they were pulled away from the Death Eaters by Mallie and Kento, who'd managed to use the confusion created to sneak through the crowd and flank the Death Eaters. Once the family was safely way Mallie erected a power barrier, one of the few wand spells she'd learned, over the still family.

Snarling in rage, one of the Death Eaters raised snapped his wand towards Nox. "Die Unspeakable! Avada Kedavra!"

Nox didn't even bother trying to dodge. Instead she let the spell nearly touch her before she drew her lightsaber and batted the sickly green lightning safely away from her and into the ground. Bringing her lightsaber around, she held the glowing red blade vertically in front of her face, casting her hooded head in a red light. "Unfortunately for you, Lucius Malfoy." Nox smirked as the Death Eater before her went stock still as his name rolled off her tongue. "We are not as lenient as the Unspeakables." Beside her, she heard Aayla's lightsaber come to life as Mallie and Kento activated their own blades as well.

Lucius, overcoming his apparent shock at being named, cast a quick glance around at the four that were surrounding his nearly two dozen. Nox could practically feel the smugness radiating off of him. The fool.

"We outnumber them five to one." He said calmly while raising his wand once more. "Kill them. And hang their corpses up as a lesson to those who would dare to cross us!"

To their credit, the Death Eaters didn't even hesitate before throwing a barrage of multicolored spells, most the sickly green color of the killing curse, at the foursome. But all of their spells were for naught as the Nox and the others used their lightsabers to almost casually deflect the spells away, and more often than not return them to their casters causing the Death Eaters to scatter.

The moment the Death Eaters gave her an opening in their lines, Nox leapt into the air, somersaulting over the heads of the Death Eaters while still blocking their spells and landing in the center of their mass. Swiping her lightsaber across her back, she deflected whatever curse had been about to hit her before spinning around and backhanding the offending wizard across the face with enough force to crack his bone mask. The young man, as she could now tell due to his lack of a mask, was still in the process of trying to recover from her attack when she brought her lightsaber around and pierced his heart before using the Force to toss him away like a rag doll.

A Death Eater off to her left cried out in agony as his right arm was removed courtesy of Kento while yet another lost his hand as his own cutting curse was sent back at him by Mallie. Aayla was fending off three Death Eaters that actually seemed to know what they were doing. Two were firing off spells while the third was casting a continuous barrier to protect them from reflected spells. It was a good tactic, until one of the two casters threw a killing curse that Aayla deflected back into the one that'd been casting the shield. With that one down, the other two barely lasted a few seconds before Aayla was on them.

Feeling a slight warning from the Force, Nox leaned back just in time to watch a killing curse pass right in front of her, only to strike a Death Eater that'd been trying to sneak up on her. "Your aim needs quite a bit of work Lucius."

The Death Eater snarled as he launched a barrage of spells at her, each of which she either dodged or deflected back. But unlike the others, Lucius was proving his worth. Each spell she deflected back he quickly countered. And after only a brief exchange he switched from direct attacks to area attacks by trying to set the ground beneath her feet ablaze. Against anyone else, his plan might've worked. But against her…it didn't stand a chance. Pulling deep on the Force, she gathered all of the flames surrounding her into a single ball in the palm of her hand before lazily throwing it back at Lucius.

"Damn it!" Lucius growled as he threw one of his own men between them, who she tossed aside with a Force push, while trying desperately to put out the fire that was making its way up his robes. "Who are you?!"

"You're worst nightmare Lucius." Nox smiled as she brought her lightsaber across her body.

Snarling, Lucius brought his wand up to unleash another barrage of spells, when a loud thunderous boom from the sky brought a screeching halt to their little skirmish. Casting a quick glance skywards, Nox frowned as she saw a skull forming from the clouds with a snake protruding from its mouth. 'The Dark Mark. But it wasn't anyone here so…Harry.'

Swinging her lightsaber back over her shoulder, she cast a glance out of the corner of her eye at Lucius, who was now holding onto his arm getting hit with the cutting spell he'd tried to hit her in the back with. Clutching at his arm, Lucius snarled at her one last time before disappearing with a crack. _'Portkeys…shite.'_

Thrusting her hand out, she grabbed hold of the nearest dead Death Eater and quickly cut the strands of Force that were trying to pull his body through the portkey. Nox grunted as she desperately held onto the body. It was like trying to hold onto a slippery eel underwater. Eventually though, the tremors stopped and the body dropped back down to the ground.

Brandishing her wand, she quickly summoned any portkeys he had on him. Three items leapt off his corpse and hovered just beyond the tip of her wand for a moment before she dropped them to the ground. She wasn't about to touch them just in case Lucius tried to activate them again.

"What happened?" Aayla asked as she deactivated her lightsaber. "How did their dead disappear?"

"All of their portkeys were tied into one. Once the primary portkey was activated, the rest forcibly activated as well. It was only sheer luck that I was able to keep this one here." Nox answered while nodding towards the one corpse still on the ground before pulling out her wand and looking up at the Dark Mark in the sky. "Now, let's do something about that monstrosity."

Raising her wand in the air, Nox narrowed her eyes in concentration. _"Custodia insigne."_

A small sphere of fire shot out from the end of her wand, sailing skywards until it impacted the floating skull right between its eyes. As soon as the two met, the fire spread in a vortex, quickly consuming the skull and snake. Once the mark was gone, two lines of fire emerged from the vortex creating a circular marking that only a few understood, but soon everyone would know.

"The mark of the old Alliance between the Jedi and the Sith." Mallie commented as she stared up at the flaming mark of the Guardians in the sky. "Considering the Guardians philosophy, I guess that is as good a symbol as any."

"I thought so as well." Nox nodded while putting her wand and lightsaber away. "Put your weapons away and get ready to activate your portkeys. We're about to be visited by the Aurors and Hit Wizards."

No sooner had the words passed her lips, than two dozen Aurors and Hit Wizards appeared around them with the telltale crack of apparition. And standing directly in front of them with their wands drawn were Amelia and Sirius. Amelia took one look at the dead body before glancing up at the sky and then returning her gaze to Nox and the others. "Identify yourselves, now."

Nox had to hand it to the woman. She knew how to act. "Madam Bones, Head of the British Department of Magical Law Enforcement." Nox remarked calmly before pointing up towards the fiery circle in the air, "We are the Guardians."

Amelia's eyes darted down towards the corpse. "And I assume that is your handiwork?"

"You would be correct." Nox nodded. "We managed to take down at least five others and at least wound the rest. However they escaped using a joint portkey which took their dead along with them. It was only sheer luck that I managed to keep this one here. But you should be able to use it to launch your investigation into this sudden reemergence of the Death Eaters."

Several of the Aurors and Hit Wizards gasped and began looking back and forth between one another. "But how do we know that you four are not the ones who initiated this attack?" An Auror, that took her a moment to place as Rufus Scrimgeour, demanded as he took a step forward. "You could've simply killed anyone and dressed them that way."

"Possibly." Nox nodded. "But you can ask anyone of the non-combatants around here what happened and they will all tell you quite the opposite, Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour."

The fact that Nox had been able to correctly identify two of the people before her drew even more puzzled looks from the witches and wizards surrounding them. Nox could almost feel their confusion and slight fear. 'Ah…my old friend. How I've missed you.'

"Perhaps." Amelia said flatly while taking a step forward and leveling her wand at Nox's head. "But I'm afraid that I'm going to have to take you into custody until this mess is sorted out. If for no other reason than you're wearing a variation of an Unspeakables' cloak, something that is prohibited for anyone not associated with the Department of Mysteries. Please hand over your wands immediately, and I promise you fair treatment."

Smiling, Nox spread her arms. "I'm afraid Madam Bones that I cannot allow that. You see, we're not quite ready to reveal ourselves to the world. But rest assured, we are on your side. Farewell."

Twitching her wrist slightly, Aayla, Kento and Mallie all activated their portkeys simultaneously just before Nox activated her own. A quick trip later, and the four of them were once again standing in a secluded area right behind their tent. Quickly taking off their cloaks, the four made their way into the tent before stashing the cloaks into the same trunk Nox had pulled them out of.

"So those were the followers of this Dark Lord huh?" Kento asked as Nox secured the trunk. "Not very impressive."

"Those were merely the scrubs." Nox countered. "There were only two or three within that group that actually had any talent. Lucius being one of them and he was actually able to keep up with us. Sort of. Riddle's most dangerous followers are still in prison."

"I am curious though." Aayla said slowly. "You knew the identity of at least one of the attackers. And from what I understand he is a high ranking member in this magical government. So why didn't you take the opportunity to capture or expose him?"

"Unfortunately it's not that simple." She sighed. "Lucius has spent the past ten years lining the pockets of just about every major politician in the magical government in at least three different countries. Even if we were to expose him, it would be quickly covered up. And right now, his being released is not a hurdle due to the fact that we can counter or mitigate whatever ill concocted schemes he comes up with."

"How?" Mallie asked.

Nox hesitated at the question. _'I guess trust goes both ways.'_ "Because his wife, Narcissa Malfoy, who just so happens to be Sirius's cousin, is also one of our deepest planted spies amongst the 'darker' elements of the magical society. And before you three get on your Jedi high horses," pausing, Nox made sure to look at each former Jedi in turn before continuing. "She was the one who came to us. Not the other way around. And she fully understands the consequences of her actions should she be exposed. And it is also because of her that we've managed to get our hands on one of Riddle's soul containers and at the same time stop a plot by Lucius to unleash a class five dark creature on the students of Hogwarts."

"A class five?" Mallie echoed. "Which one?"

"A basilisk." Nox paused for dramatic effect, "A thousand year old basilisk"

Kento and Aayla both looked puzzled while all of the blood rapidly drained from Mallie's face. "Mallie?" Kento asked his wife before turning back to Nox. "What's a basilisk?"

"A giant snake." Mallie answered. "They can live for over a thousand years and continuously grow their entire lives. Their gaze petrifies, or rather freezes the nervous system, of whomever or whatever they make eye contact with. Their venom is considered to be one of the most toxic substances on the planet. And their hide is magically resistant."

"That…such traits would make such a creature the absolute alpha predator." Aayla said lowly. "How did this Lucius almost unleash one on the school?"

"Because there was one beneath the school." Nox answered before waving them off. "But don't worry, its dead. Myself and a team of Aurors went down into the chamber below the school a few years ago and hunted the thing down. But that's enough for now," she added cutting off Aayla off as she once again opened her mouth. "When that mark got sent up, I felt a call from Harry and now I sense that he's in trouble. You three can head back to the Temple if you wish, but I'm heading to my son."

"We can't, Galen is with Luna so we'll wait for them to return back." Mallie reminded Nox.

* * *

Holding tightly onto Nat's hand, Harry dodge and weaved his way through the throngs of panicking witches and wizards as he tried to make it towards the tree line. Part of him had immediately wanted to grab his emergency portkey and get himself and the others out of here, but he felt something in the Force that stayed his hand. Something was going to happen soon…something that he either needed to see or be a part of.

Unfortunately, despite his best efforts their group ended up getting separated from one another in all of the commotion. Right now the only ones still with Harry were Luna, Galen, Ginny, Nat, Ahsoka, Daphne and Astoria. Ron, Hermione, the twins, Susan, Hannah and Tracey had all gotten separated from them early on, but he trusted Susan to keep the group together.

Just as the group reached the tree line, Harry saw a something out of the corner of his eye shoot up towards the sky. Then it sounded like someone let off a cannon blast charm, which made everyone in the near area stare up into the sky. Staring up, Harry blinked dumbly at the image that was created in the sky as around them, the older witches and wizards started screaming in terror before renewing their efforts to leave ten-fold.

"Harry!" Ahsoka yelled over the roar of the crowd. "What is that?"

"It's the Dark Mark." Daphne answered. "It was used in the last war to send a statement…usually that someone had just been killed."

Lowering his eyes from the sky to the trees where he saw the spell originate from, Harry motioned for Daphne to take the trembling Nat's hand. "Daphne, I want you to take Nat for me for a few minutes."

"And where do you think you're going Potter?" Daphne demanded as she took Nat's hand firmly in her own.

"That spell was fired off from somewhere in those trees just over there." Harry said, motioning with his hand towards the trees. "I mean to go and find the bastard that put that cursed mark in the sky."

"Whoever did that is mostly likely gone by now Harry." Daphne countered back.

"Maybe, or maybe not." Harry shot back. "And each moment I waste here is another moment for that person to get away. Trust me. Keep track of everyone and I'll be back before you know it."

Daphne looked conflicted, but in the end just sighed. "Fine. Go run off and be a bloody hero. Idiotic barbaric Gryffindor fool."

"I'm coming too." Ginny announced taking a step past him. "An apprentice should always follow her Master. So…after you Master."

Ahsoka though didn't ask, she simply took off into the woods leaving the rest of them behind. "Guess she's coming too," Harry sighed before turning back to Daphne. "Take care of them." He added before taking off into the woods right behind Ahsoka with Ginny hot on his heels.

In their short time together, there was one thing that he knew for sure about Ahsoka. And that was that she was fast. Wicked fast. And now as he and Ginny were rushing to keep up with her through the trees as she leapt, rolled and vaulted through the forest, he was forced to add another description to her as well. She was quiet. She made absolutely no noise whatsoever as she ran.

A few short moments later and Ahsoka came to a screeching halt just before a small clearing while holding up a closed fist which brought Harry and Ginny to an abrupt stop beside her. Pointing upwards with her finger, Harry nodded and then jumped up into the thick tree branches with Ginny and Ahsoka right beside him.

Taking off his faux glasses, Harry inched his way along the length of the thick tree branch as he tried to see through the darkness. Squinting, he could just barely make out two figures, one large and one small, standing on the opposite side of the clearing from them. Turning his head just enough so he could see Ahsoka and Ginny, he held up two fingers before pointing to the far side of clearing. 'I really need to learn this military sign language. Merlin knows it makes things a lot easier in the movies.'

After getting an affirmative nod back from both girls, Harry dropped out of the tree while using the Force to cushion his fall so he made absolutely no noise as he hit the ground. Crouching low to the ground, Harry inched forward until he was standing at the very edge of the clearing. He could clearly make out the two figures. One was undoubtable a house elf that was looking extremely nervous for some reason and holding a wand of all things. The taller figure though was wearing some type of black cloak and had his back turned towards him.

Just as Harry was about to make his move, the taller figure made some sort of gesture, which made the elf fall to their knees and cried out as if in agony. The larger figure then hit the elf with two spells before disappearing with a crack.

"Shite," Harry cursed as Ahsoka and Ginny landed silently beside him.

"Harry," Ahsoka whispered. "What happened?"

"We missed him." Harry said shaking his head and drawing his wand. "But we might still be able to find out what happened. Come on."

With Ahsoka and Ginny flanking him on either side, Harry moved slowly across the field towards the spot where he knew the house elf was laying while keeping his wand trained on the area directly in front of them while trying, and failing, to find any trace of the man who'd been there just moments ago. As they came upon the downed little creature, he heard Ahsoka's steps stuttered. "Harry…is that a…house elf?"

Nodding, Harry had to remind himself that despite being here for several weeks, none of the Jedi had actually been to Grimmauld Place yet and therefore had not met Kreacher or any other house elf. "Yes," Harry nodded before kneeling down next to the small elf and gently feeling for a pulse on her wrist.

"Is she-"

"She's alive. Just stunned." Harry said, cutting Ahsoka off as something started building in the back of his head. "We should get her to – oh shite! Down!"

Thrusting his wand into the air, Harry turned his head as he poured everything he had into creating a bubble shield around the four of them. His shield was hardly even in place before he felt no less then at least two dozen stunners slam home against his shield. Had it just been the single barrage Harry could've held the shield without any problems. Except it wasn't just a single barrage.

Mere moments after the first round subsided, a second round of the same number impacted his shield again. Then a third round. By the fourth in less than a few seconds he could tell that the spells were no longer just limited to stunners. There were more than a few powerful blasting curses thrown in as well. By the tenth round in as many seconds, Harry felt his shield starting to crack. 'No!' He cried out in his mind as images of either Ahsoka or Ginny getting struck by one of the many powerful curses that were battering against his shield came to the forefront of his mind. _'I….won't…give…up!'_

Gritting his teeth, Harry used his will to keep his apprentice and Ahsoka to pull on the Force harder than ever before. His body literally shaking with effort, he rose to one foot. Then his other. "Just…back…off!"

He wasn't quite sure just how he did it, but his shield disintegrated, only to be reformed into a semi-transparent blue shockwave that batter aside both spell and magical alike as it spread out from the three of them.

Harry could only blink dumbly at now vacant area. All of the wizards who'd been firing at them were all sprawled out either on the grass or even a few times up in the trees. Looking down at his wand, Harry stared at it for a second before his knees gave out on him and he sunk down to the ground.

"Harry!"

He wasn't quite sure whether it was Ahsoka or Ginny who'd called his name. But before he could hit the ground he felt himself being caught in a pair of arms while another set placed his discarded glasses back onto his face. Shaking the spots out of his eyes, he forced himself to look up at the one who was holding him, and found himself staring right at Ahsoka with only a scant few inches separating the two of them.

"Harry?" She called, snapping him out of his revere. "Are you alright?"

"Ye– yeah." Harry nodded back before turning to look at Ginny who was staring at him in awe. In fact, both of them were looking at him in awe. "What happened?"

"What is going on here?!"

Harry nearly cringed as the loud feminine voice echoed throughout the clearing. Lifting his head just enough to peer over Ahsoka's shoulder, he gulped as he saw a positively fuming Madam Bones marching across the clearing with his completely stoic mother walking beside her. And it wasn't Madam Bones that made him gulp. _'Mother is usually never this calm unless she is extremely an– oh shite. I just used magic outside of the Temple and Hogwarts. And an incredibly advanced spell at that…I'm a dead man.'_

While Madam Bone rounded on the nearest wizard who'd managed to rouse himself, his mother continued on her way until she was kneeling right next to him and Ahsoka on the ground. "Are you three alright?"

"I– yes mother." Harry answered while Ahsoka and Ginny both nodded.

"Good." His mother said crisply before turning to examine the area with a critical eye. He hadn't noticed until now, but the shield he'd created had left a nearly foot wide scorched area from the point where it'd been touching the ground. "What happened here?"

"What happened is that Harry Potter and these two are going to be held under suspicion of casting the Dark Mark and for violating the clause for Underage Magic, Madam Nox."

His mother's face went completely blank as she turned towards the elderly man who was standing next to Madam Bones. "Is that so, Mr. Crouch?" His mother asked, her voice completely void of any emotion as she rose to her feet. "Perhaps you could explain to me why you believe that three children, all of them too young to even remember the last war, could have cast a spell that none of them even know?"

The elder man bristled at the slight. "They were in the vicinity Madam Nox! That makes them the prime suspects-"

"Just being in the vicinity of a crime does not constitute guilt, Crouch." Amelia shot back while glaring daggers at the older man. "I would think that the Former Head of the DMLE would know that. As such, where do you get off telling those children they are to be held? I do not recall resigning and you taking up your old job."

Crouch rounded on Madam Bones. "Do not lecture me about the letter of the law Amelia." Crouch growled. "Lest you forget, I sent my own son to Azkaban for violating the law."

"Then you should know the importance of assuring guilt before passing a sentence, Mr. Crouch." The way his mother's voice stayed completely flat sent more than a few shivers down Harry's spine. "Harry, perhaps you could explain why you three are out here and why there is an unconscious house elf lying right next to the three of you."

Awkwardly getting to his feet, with only minimal help from Ahsoka who stayed by his side just in case, Harry looked Crouch right in the eyes as he answered. "We were trying to get a safe place when we saw the Dark Mark go up in the sky. I we could see a slight spell trail leading here, so we decided to follow it and try to find who cast the mark. We found this clearing and saw a man talking to an elf. The man then cast a few spells on the elf before disappearing. That's when we came out from the trees to investigate. We'd just gotten to the elf here when I heard a twig snap and then we were under a barrage of spells from them."

Once he'd finished, Madam Bones strode forward towards the small elf laying on the ground. With a wave of her wand, a black wand slithered its way out of the elf's grip and into her hand. Touching her wand to the new one, a small wisp of smoke rose from the wand which circulated for a second before forming the image of the Dark Mark.

"It seems that this is the wand that was used to cast the spell Barty." Amelia said tossing the wand to one of the nearby witches. "Find out who that belongs to. Now let's find out what a house elf is doing out here alone."

Another wave of her wand, and the house elf groaned before its eyes fluttered open. The elf's eyes widened in horror as she finally got a good look at the dozen or so witches and wizards surrounding her. But when her eyes fell on Crouch, she gave off a wail of despair and flung herself at the man's feet. "Master Crouch! Winky sorry! Winky a bad elf a-"

"Silence!" Crouch shouted, his face now completely red, as he roughly kicked the wailing house elf. An act that made Harry reach out and grab hold of Ahsoka to keep from doing anything rash. As much as he hated it…they couldn't do anything at the moment.

The house elf, Winky, curled in on herself while letting out several pitiful whimpers. "Perhaps, Mr. Crouch," Harry's mother countered. "We should be asking you why your house elf is out here, alone, with the wand that is responsible for casting the Dark Mark into the sky."

Crouch glared at his mother once again before rounding once more on his cowering elf. "Well Winky. Answer her. Why are you out here with a wand?"

Winky's big eyes blinked rapidly as before she looked down at her feet. "Winky…Winky doesn't know sirs. Winky doesn't know how I came across the sticky or why I'm here. Winky is a bad elf."

 _'She isn't lying…she honestly doesn't know. She must've been oblivated.'_ Harry frowned before turning to look at Crouch, who was staring down at the elf in utter disgust. _'She would've only stayed still like that for her Master. But then…what would Crouch have to gain by putting the Dark Mark up in the sky? This doesn't make sense.'_

Madam Bones stepped up towards the small elf and pulled out her wand, making the elf whimper once again. After several complex wand movements, Amelia frowned before turning back around. "It appears that she's been oblivated. Unfortunately, that means we will probably never find out just who this second person is that young Mr. Potter and his friends saw. Mr. Potter, Ms. Weasley and…"

"Ms. Tano." Ahsoka added quickly.

"Ms. Tano." Amelia finished with a nod. "You three are free to go. Madam Nox, I may need to contact you again to speak with your charge regarding this night's events."

"You know that my door is always open to you Madam Bones." His mother smiled before motioning for the three of them to join her. "Now if that will be all, I will be taking these three back-"

"Wait. There is still another matter that needs to be discussed." Crouch called out. "Mr. Potter may not have been the one to cast the Dark Mark, but he did violate the Restriction for Underage Magic. And as such, he must be held accountable."

"Citing the same law Barty, I'm willing to overlook Harry's usage of magic under the clause for acceptable use under duress." Amelia countered back quickly. "Madam Nox, you and your charges are free to leave."

"Wait!" Ahsoka called out suddenly. "What about the little one? She's a victim in all of this too. What's going to happen to her?"

All eyes turned to Crouch, who in turn glared first at Ahsoka and then at the house elf. "While we cannot prove that she committed any crime, the fact remains that she violated my orders." Crouch answered coldly. "And I will not suffer a servant who doesn't follow orders." Taking off his left glove, Crouch threw the item at the elf. "I hereby discharge you from my service and label you a disgrace to all house elves. Now get out of my sight!"

Winky clutched the glove to her chest and started bawling her eyes out. Hearing her cries like was like a knife to gut. But before Harry could do anything, his mother took him by the shoulder and led him away from the scene. "There is nothing you can do about it now son." She said.

Harry turned around ready to retort, but the look in his mother's eyes stopped whatever he'd been about to say. If looks could kill…then Crouch would be dead many, many, times over. "But we can't just let this stand Master Nox!" Ahsoka said lowly. "What just happened now…it was wrong!"

"And I agree with you." Nox countered back. "But as I said, there is nothing that you three can do about it now. Now go back and collect the others and return home. I need to have a word with Amelia before I return."

Harry stared at his mother for a second before her words finally sunk in. With a slight grin, Harry nodded. "As you wish mother. Come on Ahsoka, Ginny. Let's go find the others."

"Harry!" Ahsoka cried as he began walking away from his mother and back into the trees. "What are you doing? We can't just leave!" Ahsoka hissed at Harry as they continue to walk away.

"You didn't listen to Master Nox very well did you Ahsoka?" Ginny asked with a grin, making Ahsoka gape at the younger girl. "She said that there was nothing that 'you', or rather us three, could do. She never said that she wasn't going to do something though."

Ahsoka stared at the two of them while doing an impressive imitation of a fish out of water. "What? Then…then why didn't she just come out and say that?"

"Because it wouldn't have been any fun." Harry answered with a smile before quickly dodge the backhand Ahsoka threw at him. "You're going to have to do better than that!"

Ahsoka blinked at him, before her eyes narrowed and her lips turned up slightly. "Oh…it's on now Potter. Hold still!"

* * *

Sitting at his desk, Dumbledore was feeling all of his one-hundred and twenty-four years as he stared down at the Daily Prophet lying on his desk. Across the top of the paper in big bold print was the headline, _ **'Attack At World Cup! Unidentified Individuals Thwart Attack!'**_ And just below the headline was a picture of the Dark Mark in the sky, but as the picture moved a flame erupted in its center before consuming the mark and leaving a new flaming mark in its wake.

Turning the front page, Albus stared down on the large picture that dominated a quarter of the paper. It was of a figure in a grey cloak standing in front of the Death Eaters. Then as the picture moved, a sword of light appeared in the figure's hand before deflecting away a spell and then cutting off the arm of the Death Eater before the picture reset itself.

Hearing the roaring of his fireplace, Albus closed his newspaper just in time for Alastor Moody to step out of the Floo and into his office. "Ah, Alastor. Good to see you again my old friend. Lemon drop?"

"You know I don't eat that sweet shite Albus." Alastor grumbled as he hobbled his way across the office before dropping heavily into the seat across the desk while his magical eye continuously looked around.

Smiling, Albus reached into the small bowl he kept on his desk before popping one of the yellow candies into his mouth. "I take if you've heard of what happened at the Quidditch World Cup?"

"Eh, who hasn't heard?" Alastor grumbled as he reached down and retrieved the flask that he always kept on him. "Bunch of Death Eaters attacked the after party. Heard that they got their arses handed to them by a group of supposed 'Unspeakables' though. Bollocks. If those were Unspeakables than I'm a bloody ballerina. Still, serves those bastards right."

"Didn't you read the paper Alastor?" Albus frowned as he pushed his copy of the Prophet towards the ex-Auror. "One of the attackers died. Marcus Flint. A child who was scheduled to come back to Hogwarts because he failed his exams last term."

"I don't read that pile of trash Albus." Alastor scoffed as he stared down at the paper. "It's ninety-eight percent dragon shite. And as for the boy, you know my feelings on that. He sealed his fate the moment when he decided to fire off the Killing Curse. And don't look at me like that. Just because I don't read this shite doesn't mean I'm completely ignorant of the going ons around me. Constant vigilance and all that shite."

Swallowing back his retort, Albus leaned back in his seat. Level of force had always been a point of contention between himself and Alastor. Ever since Albus took the man under his wing during the Second World War sixty years ago. "Turn to page two Alastor," Albus sighed. "Tell me what you see."

Flipping open the paper, Alastor stared down at the picture. "Hm. Some sort of magical weapon that can deflect curses. And if my sources are correct, they can even deflect the Killing Curse. I'm sure those wankers down in the DoM are yanking themselves raw over this picture."

"I know that the picture isn't too clear, but what would you say about its ability to cut through an arm like that?" He asked as the picture moved past the point where the individual cut clean through a Death Eaters arm.

Leaning over the picture, Alastor's magical eye focused in on the picture. "Hm," Alastor hummed. "A clean cut. And…it almost looks like the wounds been cauterized. Like a cutting curse. I'm sure the goblins would be willing to pay a dragon's weight in gold to figure out how they work."

Nodding along, Albus reached into one of the many drawers within his desk and pulled out a single photograph that he'd taken three years ago. "Tell me Alastor," he said handing the photo over. "Do you think that a weapon of that caliber could cause this type of injury?"

Alastor's magical eye flickered back and forth between the newspaper and the photo. "I would say that it is highly likely. Who did this belong to?"

"Quirinus Quirrell." He answered. "Three years ago I tried to lure Voldemort out into the open by placing a replica of the Philosopher's Stone here in the castle. It worked. The essence of Voldemort attached itself to Quirrell and entered the castle for the stone."

"That was bloody well moronic Albus." Alastor growled.

"I know." Albus sighed. "But as the muggles say, hindsight is always twenty-twenty. And I was getting desperate to prove his existence to the world. Especially as Harry Potter was formally re-entering the wizarding world."

"So, what happened to Quirrell?" Alastor asked. "I doubt he did that to himself."

Nodding, Albus took the picture back. "Quite right, but honestly I'm afraid that I do not know the specifics of what happened. All I know is that I received a warning that wards surrounding the fake stone had been tripped. And while I was on my way to investigate, Madam Nox barraged into the school using Madam Bones's authorization and demanded to be taken to her son. When we found them, Harry was out cold and this arm was all that we could find of Quirrell."

Leaning back in his seat, Alastor took a long pull from his flask. "So you think that the Potter boy is one of these so called 'Guardians'? I admit, there is evidence to that theory. But it's flawed Albus. A powerful fire spell or cutting spell could've done that to that arm. Although I do admit that both would be beyond a first year. Unless the kid's a prodigy that is."

"There's more though," Albus said nodding to the picture. "You see how that person is fighting? Wand in the left hand and sword in the right. As long as I've known the Potters, and I even went back and traced their lineage, they've all been right handed. Harry is ambidextrous with his wand, but he seems to prefer using his left. But his wand movements with his right hand are significantly faster and sharper. Then…there is also this."

Getting up from his seat, he made his way around his office and towards the large pensive he had with Alastor right behind him. Taking a single vial off of the shelf, he hesitated only a moment before upending its contents into the bowl. "I've never shown anyone this," Albus admitted while stirring the liquid with his wand. "And I'm the only one who knows it in its entirety."

The figure of Sybill Trelawney came to life above the surface of the pensive. " _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… Woe to the Lords of Day and Night…for one of the Pillars, reborn of everything and nothing shall guide the Chosen…and under the Pillar's guidance shall the chosen sprout six wings…upon these wings shall the chosen glide…and the world shall break and heal before the chosen's power…the chosen shall be born as the seventh month dies…and balance shall the chosen bring."_

As the ghostly figure disappeared, Alastor rubbed at the few days' worth of growth on his chin. "Divination ain't my area Albus."

"I know." Dumbledore nodded while placing the memory back into the vial. "Harry was born on July 31st. Voldemort marked him when he tried to kill him. And through a clever bit of wordplay, I've discovered that Madam Nox, a woman that has no clear origins, identifies herself as a 'Pillar'. Although what that could mean I do not know. But Harry meets all the requirements of the prophecy. And unless we do something…I'm afraid that the boy will destroy the world."

"It said that he would 'heal' the world as well Albus." Alastor added sharply. "When a broken bone is healed it becomes stronger. Perhaps the world needs a good breaking."

"Perhaps," Albus sighed tiredly while heading back to his seat. "But in my lifetime I've seen the rise of two Dark Lords. Both of whom I had a chance to stop but didn't until it was too late. And despite my telling myself otherwise…I can't help but see the similarities between the rise of Grindelwald, Voldemort…and now young Harry. All three were incredibly powerful. All three are or were able to attract powerful witches and wizards to their cause. And all three have the same…spark within them."

"Well if you're going by that criteria, there's a fourth one to add to that last Albus," Alastor chuckled and pointed his finger. "Yourself. And frankly, you turned out alright. What's to say that Potter won't turn out alright as well?"

"I argue that same point with myself everyday Alastor." Dumbledore conceded. "And I have yet to reach a satisfactory answer. Perhaps he will turn out good. But then again…there is just as much of a chance that he will not."

Grunting, Alastor pulled out his hip flask and took another drink. "You're going in circles Albus. Just get to the reason why you called me here."

"I need another pair of eyes within the castle Alastor." Dumbledore sighed. "Especially this year seeing as how there will be representatives from two other schools for the majority of the year. Alastor…I need you to take up the post of the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Bloody hell I will," Alastor growled. "I ain't no bloody professor for little shite's to listen to and gawk at."

Leaning back in his chair, Dumbledore sighed at what he was about to do. "Alastor…do you remember Normandy?" That brought Alastor up short. "Well…I'm calling in that debt you owe me."

Alastor stared at him for several long moments before dropping back down in his seat. "You got me by the bloody balls, or at least the one that's left. Fine. I'll teach. For one year only though!"

"Splendid." Albus smiled as he reached back into his desk and pulled out several pieces of parchment. "I've already taken the liberty of designing a course outline for you this year, as well as assigning the necessary books to the students."

Taking the pieces of parchment, Alastor started flipping through them, his magical eye reading their contents far faster than a normal eye could. "What is this shite Albus?" Alastor asked as he picked up one particular piece of parchment. "Ministry authorization for use of the Unforgivable Curses for teaching purposes?"

"You're reading that correctly Alastor." Albus sighed. He really did not want to expose his precious students to such evil. But with what was to come, it was far better that they learn about them now rather than later. "I don't want you to teach them how to cast the curses, but how to recognize them and how to potentially defend one's self from them as well."

Alastor stared down at the paper for a while longer before his eyes snapped up to meet Dumbledore's. "The Dark Lord is coming back isn't he?"

Dumbledore didn't question the fact that Alastor didn't find the news that Riddle wasn't dead shocking. The old Auror had probably guessed so years ago. Which probably explained why he put all of his protégés through hell whenever he was given one. "Yes." Dumbledore nodded. "I don't know how much time we have left. But the Dark Mark is getting stronger."

Alastor's eyes narrowed. "Your pet tell you that?"

Sighing, Dumbledore took off his glasses momentarily so that he could rub the bridge of his nose. Severus had been a point of conflict between the two of them ever since the end of the last war. "Yes the information came from Severus. And the reemergence of the Death Eaters and the Dark Mark are another clue. And before you saying something more, don't. Severus has my complete trust."

"And that makes exactly one of us Albus." Alastor growled as he stood up from his seat while collecting the lesson plans on the desk. "I'm heading back home till school starts."

"Thank you, my old friend." Albus smiled as he too rose from his seat.

"Don't thank me yet Albus." Alastor grinned as he hobble towards the fireplace. "I plan on treating those little whelps just like they were my trainees."

"That is actually what I'm hoping for Alastor." Dumbledore nodded just as Alastor reached the fireplace. "Oh, and Alastor, one more thing. Please watch your language around the kids this year."

* * *

Sitting in her room within the Guardian Temple, Ahsoka watched as the eastern sky began to brighten, preparing for the sun to rise. Closing her eyes for the twelfth time in as many minutes, she let out a low breath and tried to clear her mind of all thought and emotion. But just like the dozen times before, her concentration broke within seconds. Cursing her inability to concentrate, Ahsoka got up from her kneeling position and leaned an arm against the window frame in her room so she could better watch as the sun rose.

Her lack of concentration could be contributed to one single fact. And that was that the day that she'd been secretly dreading had finally arrived. In less than a few hours Harry and the others would be returning to their school to learn magic. And she would be left behind. Again. And if there was one thing that she hated more than anything it was being left behind.

Finally conceding defeat, Ahsoka let out a long sigh as she rose to her feet and decided to get ready for the day. Making her way into the bathroom that was attached to her room, she stripped down and stepped into the shower. The moment she was fully inside, warm water started pouring out of the overhead spout and onto her head and shoulders.

Hugging herself, Ahsoka let her head roll back as she enjoyed the sensation of the warm water pouring over her head. Considering the fact that she'd pretty much only taken sonic showers her entire life…a real shower with actual water was a luxury. Although…calling it 'real' water was a mild stretch. After Master Kento pointed out the apparent lack of plumbing in the Temple, Sirius had explained that the water in the bathrooms were all conjured from runes and the water removal was once again handled by runes. In short…magic.

Stepping out of the shower, Ahsoka reached out and picked up one of the neatly folded towels that were stacked up next to her shower. _'Winky's doing, no doubt.'_

True to Harry's and Ginny's prediction, Master Nox had indeed done something about the situation regarding the house-elf, although none of them knew just what that 'something' was until next day when everyone had gathered for the first meal of the day. That was when Master Nox introduced Winky to everyone.

Thinking back on that particular moment though made Ahsoka wince. That had…not been a pleasant conversation. Despite the growing trust that'd been building between the Masters and Nox…the fact still remained that Nox was at least at some point and time a Sith. And not just any old Sith Lord; one of the rulers of the old Sith Empire. So when Master Nox introduced the elf as a servant…everyone, including herself as much as she loathed to admit it, jumped to the conclusion that Nox had basically taken on a slave.

She really didn't remember much of the conversation that followed, but what she did remember was that it was a fairly one-sided argument in that only the Masters and herself were the ones speaking. Or rather yelling. And the whole time Master Nox and Harry just stood there taking their insults while looking completely…disinterested.

In the end, it'd been Winky that ended the argument when Master Secura demanded that Master Nox release the elf from her service. At that, Winky started wailing and wrapped her arms around Master Nox's legs, all the while begging her not to let her go and that she would be a good elf.

Needless to say, the little elf's pleas took the wind out of their metaphorical sails. But before any of them could comment further, Master Nox whipped out her wand and Master Secura, Kento, Mallie and even herself were all wrapped up in magically conjured bindings and forced to sit down. Of course that did not go over well with any of them. But as they tried to yell at Nox…nothing came out. Ahsoka could feel her own mouth moving and could see the Masters trying to speak as well, but none of them were making a single sound.

After she put her wand away, Master Nox proceeded to lecture them on house-elves. The house-elves were a magically symbiotic species. Meaning that they needed magic to survive, but for reasons that no one knew the elves ability to tap into the Living Force had been removed. Which meant that they had to bind themselves those who could access it, or locations that were heavy with the Force, in order to survive. However their pride did not allow them to simply live off another like a leech.

So instead of being a parasite, the house-elves began serving those that they were bonded too. And over several millennia, there want to serve those who had magic because they did not want to be a burden thus they had become the very cornerstone of who they were. Master Nox then went on to inform that Winky had not bonded herself to Master Nox, as her own experience with slavery had left her with a deep hatred for the practice, but rather to the Temple itself. Harry also sealed the point that Hogwarts employs hundreds of house-elves that are bonded to the school.

Wrapping the fluffy towel around herself, Ahsoka walked out of her bathroom and back into her room only to find a set of robes neatly folded and sitting on the edge of her bed and a cup of tea that still had wisps of steam rising from its surface. Dressing quickly, Ahsoka took a calming breath before calling out, "Winky?"

A very slight pop off to her left brought her head around just in time to see Winky appear out of thin air. "You calls for Winky, Missy Ahsokie?"

"No." Ahsoka said shaking her head, before continuing on quickly when she saw the elf's face fall. "I just wanted to thank you for the tea and clothes."

Immediately, Winky brightened right back up and even blushed slightly. "Winky is happy Missy Ahsokie likes what Winky picked out for her. Winky not sure what Missy Ahsokie likes…Did Winky do good?"

"Yes." Ahsoka smiled while looking down at the robes that were arranged on her bed. While not her usual choice, the robes that Winky had picked out for her greatly resembled Jedi robes except they were definitely more form fitting than what was normal worn. "They're wonderful Winky. Thank you."

"Winky is pleased to serve Missy Ahsokie." Winky beamed. "Does Missy Ahsokie be needing Winky for anything else? Winky has eggs cooking for Master Yodie and doesn't want them to burn."

"No." Ahsoka responded shaking her head before quickly thinking better of it. "Actually, where are Harry and Nat?" Being the last day before everyone was to set off for Hogwarts again, all of her fellow Knights and Apprentices had decided to stay with their families save for Harry who stayed at the Temple because…well it was his home.

"Master Harry sir be in the Many Rooms Room." Winky explained. "And Missy Nat still be asleep."

"You're a gem Winky." She said making the small elf blush. "If I need anything else I'll let you know. Thank you."

"Yous be most welcome Missy Ahsokie!" Winky beamed before snapping her fingers and disappearing from the room.

Shaking her head at the elf's antics, Ahsoka left her room and made her way down the halls towards the Room of Requirement, or the Many Rooms Room as Winky called it. Just as she was about to reach the room, she came to an abrupt stop as she saw something…strange. Hedwig was perched up in one of the upper tresses of the corridor, which in and of itself wasn't all that strange. But what was strange was the large red bird with black accents lining its wings.

"Well good morning Hedwig." She called out earning a hoot from the owl in return. "And who is your friend?"

The large red-black bird gave off a trill before spreading its wings and gliding down from the rafters and over her head. But when the bird tried to bank around…it ended up colliding right with the wall and landing in a heap on the floor. Just barely managing to stifle her laughter, she knelt down next to the downed bird, who was by then up and shaking its head, while Hedwig floated down gracefully and landed on her shoulder with hardly any effort. "Well hello there." She smiled. "Are you okay little one?"

The large bird shook its head once more before hopping back a pace or two. Then the oddest thing happened. The bird just…wavered. And then instead of a bird sitting there before her, it was Harry. "Ouch." He groaned as he rubbed at his head. "I really need to learn how to bank better. It isn't like fly a broom at all."

Ahsoka stared absolutely confounded at the sight of Harry squatting on the floor before her. "Harry." She called out slowly. "Were you…did you…was that you?"

Hand pausing mid rub, Harry shot her a goofy grin. "Um, yeah. Wanna see it again?" And before she could answer his form blurred once again and the large red and black trimmed bird was standing before her once again.

"Force." She breathed as she reached out and gently pressed a finger against the large bird's feathery chest. In response, the bird, Harry, leaned its head back and gave off a loud trill. The noise was…pleasant. Soothing. Smiling, Ahoska moved from just touching the bird to lightly stroking its feathers. The responding trill that Harry gave off made Ahsoka smile as she suddenly felt better than she had in a long long time.

The bird shimmered once again, and Harry was back and backing away from her with a wide, embarrassed, smile on his face. "Sorry…that umm…yeah that felt really good."

Smiling, Ahsoka got back up to her feet. "You managed to fully transform into your animagus!" She exclaimed, happy for her friend even if he did manage to achieve his full transformation before her. "So…what is it? I've never seen a bird like that before. And I've been across most of the galaxy."

"I'd be surprised if you have seen one before." Harry answered while standing. "It's a phoenix. And honestly…I wasn't convinced that that was what my form was until I fully transformed into it this morning."

"Why not?" Ahsoka asked.

"Because they're magical creatures." He responded. "And what I've heard and read, technically one isn't supposed to be able to transform into a magical creature."

"That's amazing Harry!" Ahsoka exclaimed. "So…if it's a Forc– magical creature. It must be able to do magical shouldn't it? What can you do?"

Smiling, Harry shrugged. "From what I've read, phoenixes are incredible. When they die they burst into flames and are reborn. Their tears are supposedly the most powerful curative substance on the planet as they're able to cure almost any type of wounds or any poison. Even basilisk venom. And I think they can do some other things, but honestly I'm not sure. And as for what I can do, I don't know. I only managed to get my transformation down fully a minute or two before you walked down the hall. I'm still just trying to fly in a straight line. You'd be amazed at how important tail feathers are!"

Fighting down the sudden surge of jealousy coursing through her, Ahsoka managed to smile. "That's really amazing Harry." She said. "I've only managed to transform my two arms so far. Sirius is actually an amazing teacher. When he isn't trying to prank Master Yoda or Master Kento."

"So what are you going to be?" Harry asked still grinning from ear to ear.

Shrugging, Ahsoka stared off down the hall as she felt…something approaching. "I think it's a corellian banshee. But I'm not entirely sure. But judging by my wing size…I would say that it's a fairly safe bet."

"That's awesome Ahsoka!" Harry yelled, surprising her by suddenly grabbing her and pulling her into a tight hug. "We can go flying together and– oh. Umm…sorry about that."

"No, it's fine." Ahsoka smiled trying, and failing, to keep her cheeks from warming as Harry took an awkward step back from her. "Flying together sounds really – what the? Is that…is that a loth-cat?"

Behind Harry, sitting on its back legs and staring up at the two of them was probably one of the last things Ahsoka thought she would ever see on Earth. An honest to the gods loth-cat, a white loth-cat, was sitting there just staring up at them. "That…that isn't a loth-cat." Harry said slowly.

The loth-cat's form wavered and shifted until Master Yoda was standing before them. His ever present cane in his hands. Hedwig, who until then had still been resting on her shoulder, gave Master Yoda a curious hoot before once again rising up into the rafters. "Interesting experience, the transformation is."

"Master Yoda! You've managed the animagus transformation as well?" Ahsoka gaped before remembering herself. "I mean – good morning Master Yoda."

Chuckling and smiling at Ahsoka, Master Yoda shook his head. "Still always speaking your mind, Knight Tano." Remind me of Master Kenobi at your age, you do. Good morning to you as well, Knight Potter. Hope interrupting something, I am not."

"No!" Both Harry and Ahsoka exclaimed before looking at one another and blushing.

Master Yoda just stared at the two of them with an amused look as if to say that he didn't believe them.

"Um, good morning to you as well, Master Yoda." Harry said politely with a slight bow. "I see that Mr. Tonks has been able to modify your walking stick."

Nodding, Master Yoda turned the top of his walking stick slightly before pulling it away from the rest and revealing his wand. "Yes. Quite ingenious, Mr. Tonks is."

A few days ago, Master Nox had introduced them to a few more members of the wizarding world, the parents of Nymphadora, Andromeda and Ted Tonks. Andromeda, who was a pureblood and Sirius's cousin, had apparently been disowned from her family after she'd run off to get married to Ted who was a 'muggle-born'. Although why that mattered Ahsoka still didn't understand. Ted, once he'd managed to get over his shock at seeing actual 'aliens', took immediate notice at how Master Yoda didn't seem to care for his wand holster and had offered to make him a substitute.

Putting his wand away, Master Yoda smiled at the two of them. "Leave you two now, I shall. Disturb you, I did not intend. Enjoy your day together." Turning his back on the two of them, Master Yoda took a few steps away from stopping and turning his head back around just enough to stare at the two of them. "Feel I should inform you, Knight Tano. Jedi, you are no longer. Be afraid of violating the Rules of the Order, you should not be."

Ahsoka gaped after the retreating form of Master Yoda as he suddenly shifted back into his loth-cat form and ran off down the hall. _'What was he…what Rules of the Order? He couldn't mean…attachment? Could he? No. But then…he couldn't…no. He couldn't have actually been telling me to– no. He's just a friend for Force sake!'_

"What was that about?" Harry asked turning back to her. "What Rules of the Order was he talking about?"

"Not sure." Ahsoka answered quickly, hoping that Harry wouldn't catch on to her little white lie. "How long do you have until you have to head out for school? Do you still have to pack anything?"

"A few hours." Harry shrugged before patting his inner robe pocket. "And unlike some of my friends, I like to pack ahead of time. I've already got everything packed, shrunken and in my pocket. Why?"

"Well…I was wondering…" Ahsoka said slowly. _'Force…how did people go about this?'_ "I was wondering if you would like to…well hang out until you need to go. I mean, we won't see each other for a while. Even though we'll both have mirrors and everything, but that still isn't the same. But if you have other things that you want to do right now I totally understand. Or– "

"Ahsoka!" Harry called out, interrupting her mid rant. "I would love to spend some time with you before I have to leave. Do you want to grab Nat as well?"

"She's still asleep." Ahsoka answered quickly. "And I'm sure that she'll be able to find us if she wants too."

Harry stared at her for a long time, his face slightly reddening. "Um, yeah she would, wouldn't she? Um…how about we head up one of the towers? We can watch the sunrise."

"That's sounds lovely." Ahsoka smiled, before frowning as she turned towards one of the open slats in the wall. "But I don't think we'll be able to make it in time."

"Sure we will!" Harry smiled before reaching out and grabbing hold of her wrist. "Now just a fair warning, but this is a little disorienting."

Ahsoka was in the midst of asking him what he was talking about, when suddenly it felt like she was being sucked into a tunnel of the Force. This was completely different than a portkey, which just spun you around. This…it was like her body was being stretched and condensed all at once as she traveled through the Force. The sensation didn't last for more than a second or two, and as soon as her feet touched solid ground she was forced to double over and had to do everything in her power to keep herself from losing what little breakfast was left in her stomach.

"Sorry about that." Harry apologized as he gently rubbed her back. "I forgot that you haven't apparated yet. Side along apparition takes more than a little getting used to. But if it's any consolation, you're doing better than me. I think I actually threw up the first two or three times I side along apparated with my mother or Sirius."

As her stomach finally settled, Harry's words registered in her head. "Wait, when did you learn to apparate?" As far as she knew, one wasn't allowed to learn how to apparate until they were sixteen for some reason.

Looking fairly sheepish, Harry rubbed at the back of his head. "Um, well that's just the thing. A few days ago I thought I felt distress coming from my mother and– umm, kind of apparated into her room without intending too. Needless to say…she wasn't distressed. And it took a few days for Tonks to forgive me after seeing her tied to the be – um forget I said that!" Harry said quickly, his cheeks flushing before he continued on.

"After that I actually tried to go somewhere and I ended up there. This time on purpose. I think…I think it's kind of like what happened back at the World Cup with that shield I created. After I told mother about it, she asked me to recreate it so she could examine it. Apparently it wasn't a normal magical shield. It was something…different. Something new. And I created it instinctively, just like when I apparated. I think, I'm pretty sure it has something to do with this Father guy and what he did to me."

"That's amazing Harry." Ahsoka said, honestly meaning it. "Are you…able to access his whatever knowledge he gave you?"

"No." Harry said shaking his head. "The ability to create the shield and apparate, I couldn't do them consciously at first. Or even a second time. But after a little bit of practice I was able to do both at will. But enough about that, you wanted to watch the sunrise didn't you? Well, I don't think there is a better place to do that then here."

Turning her head to where Harry was pointing, Ahsoka felt her jaw drop slightly. They were standing on the balcony of the southeast tower facing the sunrise. "This is perfect." She said quietly, making her way over towards the railing.

"Yeah," she heard Harry say softly as he leaned against the railing next to her. "It is."

Ahsoka didn't know how long the two just stood there watching the sun rise over the ocean, and truth be told she didn't care. "I wish that you didn't have to leave today." She said without preamble. "This place will be so…boring without you guys here with Nat and I."

"Missing my irresistible charm already eh?" Harry teased.

"You wish." Ahsoka chuckled while lightly backhanding Harry on the shoulder. "It's just…I've spent the past three years of my life either on the run or on the frontlines of a battlefield. It was nice to be with people my own age and not have the pressing weight of a galactic war hanging over our heads. It was…peaceful."

Beside her, she could sense Harry awkwardly shifting around. "Well…we'll still have our mirrors to talk if you get to lonely. Plus I'm sure that Hedwig would love the chance to fly if you or Nat want to write a letter to the lot of us."

Nodding, Ahsoka continued to stare resolutely forward at the sun. "How much time do you have left?"

Pulling out his wand, Harry cast a spell under his breath which created what looked like a digital clock display in midair. "I've got about an hour until I seriously need to consider getting to King's Cross." Harry answered with a sigh. "I suppose we should head in huh?"

"Not yet." Ahsoka said quickly, reaching out and grabbing his arm and stopping him. "I– umm…I just want to spend as much time with my friend as possible before he has to leave. Is that…okay?"

She could see Harry's throat move as he swallowed and nodded his head. "Um…yeah. That sounds good to me."

Taking up his position once again, Ahsoka removed her hand from his arm and looked back over the ocean as the two fell once more into a comfortable silence. Unfortunately, her mind was anything but idly as they stood there side by side. _'You want to spend as much time as possible with your 'friend' Ahsoka? For Force sake…stop lying to yourself!'_

* * *

Sitting at the Gryffindor table, Harry clapped along with the rest of his house mates as yet another first year, a small girl with bright blonde almost white hair, took off the Sorting Hat and practically ran over to the Gryffindor table. Sitting around him where Ginny, Hermione and Ron. And of them the only one that really looked interested in the going ons of the school was Hermione. But even then that was slight. It didn't need to be said, but what they did over the summer had changed them, and altered their perspective of the wider galaxy. The drama of school life and Hogwarts just seemed so…insignificant now.

And they weren't the only ones. On the entire train ride on the Express, their not so small group hardly said a few dozen words between them. Part of that might've been because some were just far too tired to talk. Most notably Ron who'd been run ragged by Master Kento on their last night in the Temple together.

Not even Draco's customary 'pre-school taunting' could get a rise out of them. There was something about facing down the business end of a few dozen blasters wielded by seasoned soldiers out to kill you that made a teenaged sorry excuse for a bully seem so…pathetic. Harry had barely even allowed the blond ponce to say three words before he used the Force to push him and his two bodyguards out of the compartment before shutting the door and sealing it shut.

Hermione of course had berated him for a moment about his actions. Although not for the fact that he did what he did, but rather for how he did it. A lot of people still didn't know about their wandless abilities with the Force. And if he was going to use the Force rather than magic, he needed to at least be holding his wand to confuse those who didn't know.

"So, what do you think of our new Defense Professor?" Ginny asked quietly as she nodded up towards the teachers table. "He looks, more than a little rough."

Breaking out of his musing, Harry turned his head towards the head table as another young boy walked up to the stool and had the Sorting Hat placed upon his head. Their new Defense Professor definitely stuck out like a sore thumb, just like Tonks told them he would. He still remembered when Tonks came back to the Temple a few days ago and told them the news about who their new Defense Professor would be.

Although her true words were along the lines of, 'what is the old coot thinking?!' Apparently, Alastor Moody was more than a little rough with his trainees, no matter how young or old they were. Tonks's only advise for the students was to constantly stay on their toes and be ready for anything. Which suited Harry just fine. Outside of Remus, both of their Defense Professors had been a joke. It would be a welcome change to have two competent Defense Professors in a row.

"I've read about him," Hermione said unsurprisingly. "He was one of the oldest active Aurors until he was forced into retirement by Minister Fudge. Although apparently events surrounding his forced retirement were suspicious. I mean, why would you force a man to retire after he found and raided one of the largest caches of Dark artifacts since the time of Who-Know-Who."

"Dad was confused by it as well." Ginny added. "Apparently they had to have three Unspeakables escort him out. Not even Madam Bones could overturn the decision."

"Probably stepped on someone's toes when he did find that cache." Harry snorted. "I'd place even money bet that Fudge was paid a fairly handsome sum to see him removed from the Auror office."

No one seemed to find fault in what he'd said, save for perhaps Hermione, but she kept her thoughts to herself. As the last of the students were sorted into their houses, Dumbledore rose to his feet and clapped his hands once to gather everyone's attention.

"Welcome, everyone new and old to another fine year at Hogwarts!" Dumbledore smiled holding his hands up as everyone applauded. "And what a most exciting year we have ahead of us too. Now before we begin the feast, I have a few announcements for everyone. Once again, the Forbidden Forest is, of course, forbidden for anyone without a Professor's escort. Also, for your convenience this year, our caretaker Mr. Filch, has compiled a list of banned items and posted them on his office door. Anyone caught with such items will be dealt with most strictly."

Beside him, Fred and George began snickering, no doubt they were going to take the list as a sort of challenge. "As most you can see, we have a new Professor joining us this year." Dumbledore continued motioning towards his left towards where ex-Auror was sitting. "After last years, unfortunate dismissal of our Defense Professor, I am pleased to announce that I have found an excellent Professor for you all. Please help me welcome Professor Alastor Moody!"

The heavily scarred ex-Auror awkwardly rose to his feet before dropping back down almost as quickly after receiving a noticeably less than enthusiastic applause. Apparently his reputation was well known. Motioning for everyone to quiet down, Dumbledore continued with his welcoming speech. "Yes, yes, I know that you will all make sure that Professor Moody feels most welcome. Now onto the last of my announcements. I am sad to announce that this year there will be no House Cup nor will there be any House Quidditch games." Most of the students within the hall started whispering frantically between one another and more than a few, mostly the House Quidditch players themselves, were staring up at Dumbledore with shock. "But I assure you there is a good reason for this. For the first time in over two hundred years, the Tri-Wizard Tournament shall once again be held! And Hogwarts has been chosen to be the host school for this prestigious event!"

This time the whispers in the hall rose to the level of a dull roar as just about every student in the Hall gained a far off look in their eyes. _'Fools.'_ Harry scoffed _. 'I doubt that any of them even realize that the reason why the Tournament was banned in the first place was because the winner was usually determined by who was the last one still alive at the end.'_

"Yes, I'm sure that you are all excited." Dumbledore almost had to yell in order for his voice to be heard over the student's hushed whispers. "Now, because of past incidents with the Tri-Wizard Tournament, several safety precautions have been implemented. For starters, no one under the age of seventeen shall be allowed to compete in the tournament."

This time the dull roar turned into angry gasps as several of the students who were fifteen or sixteen stood up sharply and started protesting. Without even missing a beat, Dumbledore pulled out his wand and sent out a cannon blast charm which instantly quieted down the entire hall. "Settle down," Dumbledore shouted, bringing an instant end to all of the commotion. "This stipulation was agreed upon as the tasks that will be set before the chosen champions require a NEWT level of magical understanding at minimum. And it is not negotiable."

Dumbledore's tone and the look and in eyes brokered no room for argument. After making a pass of the assembled students, the Headmaster continued on. "The other schools that will be participating alongside Hogwarts will be Durmstrang Institute and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. Their chosen representatives shall be arriving two days before Halloween. The following day I shall be revealing just how the three champions shall be chosen and you shall have until the Halloween Feast to decide whether or not you wish to participate. The winner of the tournament shall be gifted a position of eternal honor as one of the Champions of the Tournament, as well as a prize pot of one-thousand galleons."

Harry nearly snorted at that, especially when the twins immediately stuck their heads together and started whispering frantically between each other. No doubt that they would be trying to enter their names now. As well as just about every other sucker in the school.

"Yes, I'm sure that you are all excited." Dumbledore said with his trademarked grandfatherly smile. "And I understand that many of you are disappointed by the age restriction. But I believe that my next bit of news might just alleviate some of that disappointment. As is tradition with the Tri-Wizard Tournament, we shall be hosting a Yuletide Ball during our winter break. The dance will be open to any Fourth year and up, however Third years will be allowed to take part as long as they are in turn invited by a Fourth year or higher. Now then, I believe that you have all heard enough of me for the night. So without further ado, let the feast. Begin."

As the food appeared on the hundreds of serving plates throughout the Great Hall, Harry couldn't help the nagging feeling in the back of his head that was saying that something was going to go horribly, horribly wrong this year.

* * *

Sitting on the bridge of a stolen former Republic blockade runner, Clone Trooper 7567, known simply as Rex to those close to him, former Captain within the 501st Legion of the Grand Army of the Republic, stared out at the hypnotic blue spiral of hyperspace. As he watched, one hand reached up and idly fingered the healed scar on the side of his head.

 _'Thank you Fives.'_ He thought sadly as he remembered his former brother who'd warned him about the biochips that'd been implanted into all of the clone troopers. _'If not for you…then I would be just another mindless droid…just like the rest of our brothers serving that bastard. I'm only sorry that I didn't believe everything you said. If I had…so many of our comrades would still be alive today.'_

He'd been completely blindsided when Order 66 came through. But unlike his brothers who still had their control chips firmly implanted in their brains, he was able to disregard the order from the now Emperor of the Galactic Empire to wipe out any and all Jedi across the galaxy. Unfortunately though, he also hadn't been able to stop the slaughter. That was the main reason why he had deserted the army. He wanted to find his brothers and sisters, his generals, that'd been betrayed and try to help them.

However to his utmost shame, so far he'd been completely useless in that regard. The Jedi, those that'd managed to survive that is, had gone to ground. And it'd been next to impossible to find them. There were only two instances when they'd even come close. The first had been when they spotted a young Padawan in the streets. But as soon as the boy spotted them he took off and they completely lost track of him. The second time was when Ahsoka Tano's name had been taken off of the Top Ten list.

Rex had burned through every contact and called in every favor he had in his attempt to locate the former Commander. And by the time he finally did get a clue as to her location, her name suddenly appeared back on the Top Ten list. Only this time she had the added charge of destroying a Victory class Star Destroyer and its escort. And while he'd been overjoyed to hear that she'd managed to escape, he was once again left with no leads as to where the Jedi might be hiding.

"Captain. I think we might've found something."

Letting his hand fall away from his head, he turned his seat around towards the back of the bridge. "At ease Commander Wolffe," he said, to which his brother immediately took on an at rest position. "What've you found?"

Wolffe's right cybernetic eye twitched slightly. "Sir. Gregor and I have found a lead sir. I thought you would want to know immediately."

Nodding, Rex inputted a few commands into the nav computer before rising to his feet. "Lead on Commander."

With a curt nod, Wolffe led him out of the bridge and down the short hall towards the communications center of the cruiser. Within the center, Elite Clone Commando Gregor, was bent over the terminal while holding a pair of earphones to his head. "Rex, Wolffe." Gregor called out without bothering to turn around.

Stepping fully into the room, Rex came up on Gregor's right side while Wolffe went over to his left. "Gregor," Rex greeted back. "Wolffe said you found something."

"Yes sir." Gregor nodded before pulling up a transmission log. "Lucky those idiots running the Empire aren't as smart as they like to think. They're still using the codes you and Commander Cody created at the beginning of the war, so it was easy enough for me to sneak right in. And this is what I found."

Isolating a single section of text, Gregor enhanced the section so all three of them could read it. The further Rex got down the text, the further his eyebrows rose. "The Empire thinks they've found a Jedi Master? And not just any Jedi Master…but a former member of the Jedi Council?"

"Yes sir," Gregor nodded.

"And they're sending a full battalion after this lone Jedi as well." Wolffe whistled.

Leaning away from the view screen, Rex rubbed at his jaw. "Does anyone else know this information Gregor?"

"By now…I would say about half the known galaxy know of the Empire's plans." Gregor spat. "According to this log, there have been no less than five security breaches regarding this information. All five of the breaches have been traced back to bounty hunter groups that've been known to operate in the Outer Rim."

"How long until the Empire is fully mobilized?" Rex followed up, unconcerned with the bounty hunters. They would more than likely be too busy fighting amongst each other. It was his former brothers, the battle hardened soldiers of the former Republic that concerned him most.

"A week, maybe two at the most." Gregor answered. "Apparently the new Empire is having more than a little bit of difficulty putting down the last remnants of the Separatists. Not to mention the dozen or so worlds that are rightfully pissed off at the creation of the Empire. Apparently they wanted no less than five battalions to attack this Master, but they're having a little bit of trouble scraping together enough men for a full out planetary assault. So they've scaled it back to a single battalion. And now that I look at it. I bet the information was leaked on purpose. More than likely they're hoping that either the bounty hunters will do their job for them. Or at the very least they wear the Jedi down to a point of no-resistance."

Rex grimaced. Gregor's analysis of the situation was identical to his own. But in the end…it didn't really matter. "The Jedi are our brothers and sisters in arms." He said slowly, making sure he met both Wolffe's and Gregor's eyes before continuing on. "Even if our brothers have been forced to forget that fact. Even if the rest of the galaxy believes them to be traitors. I will not forget it. I'm going. I won't leave them behind enemy lines to face torture or death. And if this should be my end. Then I'm going to go out like a clone should; fighting side by side his brothers and sisters."

Gregor and Wolffe both turned towards each other, a silent conversation passing between the two of them. "I'm with you as well sir." Wolffe announced after giving Gregor a curt nod. "The Jedi are our Generals. More so than those pathetic politicians. But more than that, just like you said sir, they're our brothers and sisters in arms."

Giving Wolffe a quick nod in return, the two men turned towards Gregor. The commando stared back and forth between the two of them for a moment before shrugging and rising to his feet. "Well if nothing else the idea is exciting. And it's not like I've got a whole lot going on at the moment anyway. So, I'm with you two. Until the end."

Smiling, Rex placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "Brothers till the end."

Gregor smirked as he reciprocated by placing one hand on Rex's shoulder before placing the other on Wolffe's. "Brothers till the end."

"Till the end." Wolffe nodded as he too placed his hands on either's shoulders closing the circle.

Rex smiled as the anticipation of battle began to swell within him. Letting his arms drop, he turned towards Gregor. "Gregor, you're weapons detail. I want every blaster on this ship ready to go the moment we arrive."

"Yes sir." Gregor responded while giving him a lazy salute before walking out of the room.

"Wolffe, you're on ship detail. We're more than likely going to be going up against several bounty hunter ships not to mention there's a good chance we're going to run into a Victory class Destroyer. If we're going to have any chance this little cruiser of ours needs to be in peak condition."

"Affirmative." Wolffe's salute was much crisper than Gregor's before he too marched out of the room to begin his assigned task.

Now alone, Rex shook his head slightly as he once again leaned over the communications terminal. _'Battle truly is in our blood.'_ He thought as he stared at the screen _. 'For weeks, all three of us have been moping around the ship, floating endlessly through the void of space while looking for a new purpose in life. And now…it's like the war was never over.'_

Pushing the text off to the side, Rex pulled up a visual display of the world where the Jedi Master in question was said to be hiding. _'Felucia, here we come.'_


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Well here we go again! Nothing really much to say other than thank you all so much for the continued support that you've given me. I really appreciate it! And just for the record…right now this story is shaping out to be much, much longer than** **In All Things Balance.** **I wouldn't say double…but it is going to be longer.**

 **Now to that, I should be able to make my next update in two weeks. However I'm not one hundred percent that I'll make my two week deadline two weeks after. So what I'm saying is that there might be only one update in November instead of two. I will try my best to keep my two week update schedule. But I have some RL commitments that are going to be slowly my writing down considerably in the near future.**

 **A big thank you to my two beta readers HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon. Thank you guys so much for your continued help!**

 **And lastly, feel free to leave a review and let me know what you all think!**

 **Chapter 8**

Walking up the canyon path to his home, Obi-Wan Kenobi, former Jedi Master and Jedi Council Member, stopped and leaned up against the cool stone of the canyon wall as he hid from the relentless Tatooine suns. Jedi were taught to ignore such things as extreme cold or heat, but even the most hardened of Jedi would be hard pressed to remain unaffected by Tatooine's unrelenting heat.

Pulling a small water canteen from his hip, Obi-Wan took a long pull, draining the bottle of every drop of water left within. Sighing at not having brought more, Obi-Wan raised his hood back up over his head and continued down the path towards his small hut. Just as he could see his hut in the distance, he felt something…strange. It was like a wave of the Force rolled over him yet…yet he felt nothing hostile about it. But now that it'd passed…he could sense…someone in his house. No. More than just one. Several Force sensitives were in his house and two of them felt somehow…familiar. Yet at the same time…impossible.

Reaching into the folds of his robes, he made sure he had a firm hold on his lightsaber before he continued his trek up the slight hill towards his home. As he reached the entrance, he brought out his lightsaber and with a quick wave of the Force had opened the door to his house before rushing in, hoping to catch those within off guard. And froze the moment he stepped inside his small house…only to almost stumble at the voice that greeted him.

"Is this the way you greet all of your house guests Kenobi? Where's your famous Jedi hospitality?"

Obi-Wan felt his fingers go numb and he only just barely managed to fix his hold on his lightsaber before it slipped from his fingers. Sitting on his couch, with his feet perched up on the small table, was none other than Quinlan Vos. Even more surprising though, was the young woman that was casually leaning up against Vos with her feet propped up over the edge of the seat they were on. There were two others in the room with them, a man and a woman who were sitting just off to the side of the room, but he paid them little mind considering who was in front of him.

"Vos, you're alive." He breathed looking at his friend before turning towards the woman. "And Ventress…I heard you were dead. From Vos no less."

"Well, I would say that it's a pleasure to see you again Kenobi. But that would be a lie for the most part." Ventress smirked. "But I will at least admit that I'm glad you aren't dead. It'd be an awful bother to find a worthy adversary again."

Turning his head ever so slightly, he got a good look at the other two people in the room. They were both Force sensitive, but he didn't recognize either of them. And as a member of the Council, he the fair majority of Jedi that were in the Order. "And you two are?"

"Remus Lupin." The man said, inclining his head slightly.

"Aela…Lupin I guess you could say."

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes at the two of them. Their names were…rather unique. And given their level of power, there was no way he wouldn't have at least known of them if they'd been a part of the Jedi Order. Vos's voice brought him out of his musing.

"Now I know that times are rough Kenobi, but are you really just going to stand there holding onto your lightsaber and glaring at us the whole day?"

Tearing his eyes away from the two unknowns, Kenobi put his lightsaber back into the folds of his robe as he made his way across the small room and towards the seat directly across from Vos; which also allowed him to keep half an eye on the other two while his mind tried to process everything that was going on. "I think that we broke him Quinlan," Ventress chuckled darkly while leaning into Vos more. "Oh, I so wish I could've gotten a still image of his face the moment he walked in the door. Absolutely priceless."

Ventress's comment snapped Obi-Wan out of his stupor. "I'm glad that all of you managed to escape the purge, truly I am." He said slowly still unsure about the two unknowns. "But I can't help but wonder, how did you find me?"

"Oh, that's simple Kenobi," Vos smirked. "The old man told us where to find you."

There was only one man that Vos referred to as "the old man". Although he doubted that Vos would ever have the guts to actually call him that to his face. "Master Yoda…told you that I was here?" If they were speaking the truth, then it was more than likely that Master Yoda had told him just why he was here as well. "Then he must've told you why I am here as well."

"He did." Vos nodded, all previous humor that was in his voice and expression evaporating in an instant. "You're here watching over the son of Anakin Skywalker. Known now as Darth Vader."

Even though he was expecting the answer, it still did not make hearing it any easier. Especially considering the amount of disgust that was laced throughout. "So you know," Obi-Wan sighed. "And my failure is complete."

"The sins of the student should not be levied against the teacher." The man, Remus, spoke up surprising Obi-Wan. "Many have fallen to the darkness, no matter their teacher. Do not let Anakin's fall destroy you."

Staring at the man for a moment, Obi-Wan stretched out with the Force to try and get a feel for the man. What he found was…strange. Not dark. But there was something about this man and the woman. A wildness. Like there was a ferocious animal locked within each of them trying to get out.

"That wasn't very nice." The woman, Aela, growled. A noise which only reaffirmed what he'd felt. "Try that again without permission, and I will tear off your bits."

"Apologies," Obi-Wan apologized quickly. "But I'm afraid that you two have me a great disadvantage. I've known Quinlan for most of my life and I know Ventress quite well. But you two…your aptitude with the Force is on par with any experienced Master within the Jedi Order. And yet, I do not know either of you. So I must ask…who are you two? And how did you come to be traveling with Quinlan?"

"I can answer that Kenobi," Vos said quickly as he set his feet down from the table and leaned forward. "I could go into a whole long story and everything. But you know that isn't my style so I'm just going to say it plain and simple. We found her Kenobi. The woman who spoke to us all through the Force to warn us of the Purge. And as for these two, well you can consider them her emissaries after a fashion."

Of all the possible answers he'd been expecting…this was perhaps the last he'd expected. _'They…they found her? But how? And…'_ "How? Where?"

"I take it back." Ventress smiled. "I wish I could've gotten a still image of his face now. And to answer your question. Quite a fair amount of stupidity and luck on our part. Not so much for the others."

"Others?" Obi-Wan pressed leaning forward. "Who?"

Smiling, Vos began listing off names, "Well there's the old man of course. Then there's my little spitfire of a former Padawan Aayla. Kento and Mallie Marek, if you can believe that. And their son Galen. And lastly, the one and only Ahsoka Tano."

Obi-Wan was heartened to hear all of their names. But his joy was quickly extinguished as he realized something. "Master Yoda…he told everyone about Anakin. Didn't he?"

"Yes." Vos nodded.

Obi-Wan couldn't help but wince. "How did Ahsoka take it?"

"Not well." Ventress answered. "But that girl is strong, as much as it irks me to admit that. She will get over it. Especially with that green eyed kid with her." Ventress smirked at the mention of unknown "kid".

"'Green eyed kid'?" Obi-Wan questioned as he was still trying to wrap his mind around everything. "What green eyed kid?"

"That's…a long story." Remus chuckled.

"I have time." Obi-Wan responded. He wanted, no, needed to know more.

The four looked back and forth at one another before Vos sighed. "Alright. The abridged version then because the long version will take several days. And truth be told…I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. So, here you go. The woman whose voice you heard is known as Ziri Nox and she is an incredibly powerful Force user." Obi-Wan frowned at the name. It sounded familiar, but for some reason he couldn't place it. "And I can tell you recognize the name. So just to put an end to the mystery, Ziri Nox was also known as Darth Nox of the Sith Empire during the civil war between the Republic and the Empire nearly four millennia ago."

"What?" Obi-Wan asked uncomprehendingly.

"That's right Kenobi." Ventress laughed. "The one who saved the remnants of your Jedi Order was none other than a Dark Lady of the Sith. And probably one of the most powerful ones in history."

"Former Sith." Remus cut in sharply. "She's no longer a 'Sith', as you understand them to be. She's more aligned with what Quinlan called a…what was it again?"

"A Grey Jedi." Quinlan continued. "And that's a point I cannot stress enough Kenobi. She might lean a little bit towards the darker end of the spectrum. But she isn't, or at least isn't any longer, a Sith Lord. In fact, she absolutely abhors the Sith right now. Why I'm not really sure. But she does."

Scratching at his beard, Obi-Wan tried to keep himself in check. The thought that he'd taken the advice of a Sith…even a former Sith at that did not sit all that well with him. "If she is truly Darth Nox from the time of the Sith Empire…then how is she alive? There is no known species that live that long."

"She was trapped in some sort of magical, or Force stasis for several millennia." Remus answered. "When she was finally released, she was visited by several Force ghosts who informed her of just what was going on in the galaxy."

"Wait…she knew what was going on?" Obi-Wan asked as he felt his Jedi calm faltering. "Why didn't she come forth with what she knew?"

"And how would that have gone over Kenobi?" Ventress asked sarcastically. "A renowned Sith Lord shows up on Coruscant in the Jedi Temple out of the blue and says that she's there to help. You Jedi would've been so blinded by her label as a Sith that you would've either killed her on the spot or locked her in the deepest darkest pit you could find."

Unfortunately…she had a point. "So where did she go then?"

"She left to find our world." Remus pointed to himself and Aela. "Apparently, our world has an abnormally large number of Force sensitives. The ghosts that visited her sent her to our world in an effort to create a…safe haven so to speak should the worst come to pass."

"Define abnormally large." Obi-Wan said resting his forearms onto his knees.

Aela shrugged. "I believe Nox said somewhere around…0.1%? So roughly six million."

Obi-Wan's almost face planted into the floor as his forearms slipped off of his knees. 'Six million? By the Force…there hasn't been a number of Force sensitives like that since…well…ever. And if that's true…then how come the Jedi have never sensed this world? Six million Force sensitives…if they were all on one planet just about any Master or even the Knights would've been able to sense them in deep meditation.'

"I had just about the same reaction as you Kenobi." Vos laughed as he reached into his robe and pulled out an ornate…mirror? "Now we can go around in circles for days about whether or not what we're saying is actually true or not. So to avoid that we have this. Think of it as a long range communicator."

Taking the mirror, Obi-Wan looked it over with both his eyes and with the Force. He could feel a slight pull from the item…but other than that it looked like just an ordinary mirror. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Hold it up to eye level," Remus explained. "Then say in a clear voice, 'mirror mirror in my hand, show me the one to whom I wish to speak'. And think of the person you wish to talk too."

Obi-Wan shot a questioning glance towards Vos, but his old comrade didn't have anything to say. "Okay then," he muttered holding the mirror up to eye level. "Mirror mirror in my hand…show me the one to whom I wish to –" He felt a slight vibration in his hand, and in the mirror every hair on his head stood up and turned…white.

Across from Aela was trying, and failing, to hold in her laughter while Ventress wasn't even trying as she openly laughed at him. "Don't worry Kenobi." Vos laughed as Obi-Wan felt his hair…and found that it was indeed sticking up in every direction. "He's gotten all of us with that one. You should've seen Asajj's hair whe–"

"Finish that sentence and you'll be sleeping alone for the next year." Ventress growled.

Still trying to figure out what had just happened to him, after failing to figure out how to break through the Force illusion that'd been cast over him, he lowered the mirror and set it back down. "How uncivilized."

"I told you!" Vos clapped before turning towards Remus. "That's twenty creds you owe me! Now change him back."

"Wait, what?" Obi-Wan was more than a little confused as Remus, who was still laughing, pulled out a stick from beneath his arm and wave it lazily towards him. He felt a subtle wave of the Force wash over him. And when he felt his hair again it was back to normal. Picking up the mirror, he found his hair was back to its normal color and style. "What did you just do?"

"Magic." Remus smirked. "Now for serious this time. Hold the mirror up and say 'Yoda'. It may take him a moment, but when he picks up the mirror he has a connection will be formed between the two of you and you will be able to speak with him."

Still more than slightly wary, Obi-Wan picked up the mirror again and held it up to eye level. "Master Yoda."

Nothing happened for a moment, but just as Obi-Wan was about to put the mirror back down the reflective surface rippled as if it were made of liquid. And when the ripples stopped, he was no longer looking at his own reflection, but rather the face of Master Yoda. _**"Ah, Master Kenobi. Warms my heart to see you again, it does."**_

For the second time in less than a few minutes, Obi-Wan nearly dropped the mirror that he held in his hand. "M– Master Yoda?" Obi-Wan breathed, turning the mirror over in his hand trying, and failing, to break through whatever Force trick was being used on him. "How?"

 _ **"Many uses for the Force, our new allies have found Master Kenobi."**_ Master Yoda said to him from the mirror. _ **"This form of communication, merely the beginning, it is."**_

Staring down at the mirror, Obi-Wan wanted to believe that he was staring at the man he respected almost more than any other. He certainly sounded like the Master Yoda he knew. But…part of him just wasn't willing to accept it so easily. Not after everything that'd happened to them. "Master Yoda…"

 _ **"Doubt that I am who you see, you do Master Kenobi."**_ The image of Yoda sighed. _ **"Understand I do. Ask a question that only I would be able to answer, you should. Put your mind at ease, it will."**_

Thinking for a moment, Obi-Wan knew exactly what question to ask. "When we last parted, you said that you had training for me. What was it?"

 _ **"Train to communicate with your old Master, I tasked you with."**_ Master Yoda answered without hesitation.

There was no doubt about it now. Master Yoda was the only one in the room with him when he'd revealed the revelation that his old Master had become one with the Force and that Master Yoda was going to teach him how to communicate with him. "Master Yoda…it's really you? Where…where are you?"

 _ **"With our new ally on their home world, I am."**_

"You're with this…Nox then?" Obi-Wan asked.

 _ **"Yes."**_ Master Yoda nodded _ **. "Understand your reservations, I do. But understand as well, guided her to us, the Force has. Trust in the Force, we must. If to survive, we are."**_

Obi-Wan bit the inside of his cheek as he stared down silently at the mirror. "What would you have me do Master?"

 _ **"Bring young Skywalker and his family to our new refuge, you must."**_

"Wait. The boy and his relatives?" Quinlan asked out loud. "We might be able to convince them to let us leave with the boy. But I'm not about to force someone to leave their home if they don't want to."

Obi-Wan could see Master Yoda hum in the mirror. _**"If leave they do not wish, force them you shall not. But should they stay…dark is their future. Grave danger shall they face. For their own protection, leave with you, they should."**_

"Do we even have space to fit them?" Ventress asked, turning her attention to Remus and Aela.

"Yes." Remus nodded without hesitation. "We still have an extra tent. A few more passengers should be no problem at all. We should be able to find something that they can do back on Earth to give us all a hand."

 _ **"Agree with me, Master Nox has." Yoda cut in, ending the debate. "Welcome Skywalker's family, she will. Bring them if they wish. But force them, do not. Farewell, Master Kenobi. Look forward to seeing you soon, I do. May the Force, be with us all."**_

As Yoda's image rippled away, Obi-Wan handed the mirror back off to Remus. "Let me pack the few things that I have." He said, rising to his feet. "Then I will take you to Owen and Beru."

But even as he set about collecting his few meager possessions, he couldn't help but wonder just how in the name of the Force he was going to convince Owen and Beru to either give up Luke, or abandon everything they'd ever known. 'Force…why can't anything ever be simple?'

* * *

Sitting in the small dining room within the underground cavern like hut, Remus idly sipped on the blue milky drink that'd been given to him by their hosts as Obi-Wan tried to talk Owen and Beru Lars into leaving their farm. Sitting around the table with them were Quinlan, Asajj, Aela and Beru who was still holding onto little Luke.

"I understand and appreciate your concern, Master Jedi," Owen said as Obi-Wan tried once again to convince the two of them to leave with them. "But the simple fact of the matter is, Beru and I are moisture farmers. And we're happy here. Away from the Republic– or Empire as they are now called. We have no wish to get dragged into any wars. Present or future."

"I understand." Obi-Wan sighed regretfully. "And I'm sorry to have dragged the both of you into this mess. And I'm sorry to have to take Luke from you both."

"It's alright Master Jedi." Beru smiled sadly, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "We both knew the moment that you brought him to us that there would come a day when you would be taking him away once again. We just…didn't expect it to come so soon." Sniffing loudly, Beru carefully handed the still sleeping Luke over to Aela. "You'll take good care of him, won't you?"

"As if he were my own." Aela promised, holding onto the small child carefully.

Smiling, Beru reached behind her and grabbed a small miniature starship off of the shelf. "Here…this is his favorite toy."

"Thank you." Aela smiled as she carefully arranged the sleeping baby in her arms before taking the small toy and resting it against Luke's blanketed chest.

"If something should come up and you two feel that you are in danger please do not hesitate to contact me on the holo-frequency that I gave you." Obi-Wan said as he rose from the table, prompting the rest of them to follow suit.

"We will Master Kenobi." Owen smiled as he bowed the Jedi. "And we wish you luck, wherever it is that you're going."

Following the others out of the underground hut, Remus shielded his eyes against the unrelenting Tatooine sun as the group began their march towards the ship. "Merlin's saggy balls…did you have to park it so far away?" Aela growled lowly as she kept hold of Luke.

"If I landed any closer we'd be on top of the hut or worse in the canyon." Ventress shrugged, seemingly completely unbothered by the heat. "You know, for all of the amazing Force abilities you people have, it's still amazing that you've yet to figure out how to use the Force to ignore the elements around you."

Just as they were reaching the ramp leading into the ship, Obi-Wan stopped and turned around sharply. "What is it?" Quinlan asked as he, and Ventress, all froze up. "I sense…what is that?"

Before Remus could ask what they were talking about, he felt it. A bone chilling cold that went down to his bones despite the heat of the desert. "W– what? What is this…cold?"

A low whistling noise, audible to only Remus's sensitive ears, was the only warning they had before a small fighter craft of some sort flew over their heads heading straight for the farm hut less than a few hundred meters away. The next few seconds pass unbelievably slowly for Remus. Obi-Wan cried out and started running towards the hut with Quinlan yelling after him. His wand was less than half-way out into his palm before the fighter dropped something into the canyon-like home. The next thing he knew, Remus was flat on his back and a ball of fire was rising up from the canyon.

"Kenobi! Stop!" Shaking his head, Remus saw that Obi-Wan was still running right for the hut, even as the fighter was turning around.

Reaffirming his grip on his wand, Remus raised it up and shouted, " _Protego maxima!"_

The powerful shield spell slowly enveloped the ship and the surrounding area just as the fighter had made it back to them. The fighter opened fire with its blasters, but each shot was stopped dead by the shield Remus had created. "Shite! That fool has a death wish." Ventress growled.

Taking his eyes off of the fighter, Remus saw that Obi-Wan had reached the hut and was now using the Force to try and subdue the flames as he ran in. "Remus, how long while this shield of yours hold?" Quinlan asked as the fighter made another pass at them.

"Against that ship? A few hours or so." Remus grunted as he got up and immediately put a hand against his side. _'A broken rib at least…probably more.'_

"Good," Quinlan nodded before turning to them. "I'm going for Kenobi. You three get inside and get the ship ready to depart now."

"I'm coming with you." Remus grunted as he got to his feet. "No arguments. I can get the two of you back and inside the ship with that pilot being none the wiser. So let's move."

Not even bothering to see if Quinlan was going to take his suggestion or not, Remus waited until the fighter passed overhead again before running as fast as his legs could carry him between the ship and the hut.

Inside the hut, the flames that Kenobi hadn't been able to subdue spread rapidly through the numerous electronics and pipes lining the house. Waving his wand, Remus sent a powerful extinguishing charm which spread through the house like a wave while suffocating all the fires within. Holding a hand to his side, he and Quinlan marched down into the hut while shouting for Kenobi, Beru and Owen.

A short flight of stairs down and they found the three of them. Beru was dead, her chest crushed by a large piece of iron. Owen was alive, if only barely. A large piece of pipe impaled through his gut while Kenobi knelt by his side holding onto his hand. "…guess it's…too late to say…we've rec–re considered? Eh Kenobi." Owen coughed as a small stream of blood flowed out from the corner of his mouth.

Kneeling down next to the man, Remus waved his wand over him while casting a diagnostics spell. What he saw…wasn't pretty. One of his lungs was collapsed. His liver, stomach, diaphragm and large intestine where all ruptured by the pipe in his gut. In short…there was nothing that he could do for him.

"I'm sorry." Kenobi said, his voice thick with remorse as he closed his eyes. "If I had never come…"

"You…don't know that…" Owen coughed again. "I've heard…stories…the Empire goes after…families. We're…Skywalker's family. We always wondered if…if they would come…"

"Is there anything that you can do to help him Remus?" Quinlan asked coming up behind them.

"Help?" Owen laughed before coughing up even more blood. "I– I might just be a farmer. But I know…what a pipe through the– the gut means. There is no…no helping me now."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Remus leaned in closer to the dying man. "If you wish…I can make it quick and painless."

Owen looked up at him, and Remus could've sworn that he saw a measure of gratefulness in his eyes. "Please…Master Jedi. End it. Now."

Nodding, Remus placed the tip of his wand against the man's heart and motioned for Obi-Wan to let go. " _Avada Kedavra_."

A green light pulsed from the end of his wand and into Owen's chest. "May you find peace in what awaits beyond." Remus said solemnly as he closed the man's eyes.

Turning back around, Obi-Wan was staring at him with a mixture of awe, confusion, anger and suspicion. Just as he was about to say something, the hut was rocked as the fighter more than likely made another pass at them. "We'll explain everything later Kenobi!" Quinlan yelled, ending whatever Obi-Wan had been about to say. "Remus, can you get us out of here and onto the ship."

"Yes." He said placing a hand on both Quinlan's and Obi-Wan's shoulders, the latter whom pulled back slightly, but not out fully out of his reach. "Just a fair warning, but this is going to be extremely-" a crack filled the air as the three of them disappeared, only to reappear in the small hold of the Howling Wind. "Unpleasant."

Quinlan managed to stay on his feet, if only barely. But Obi-Wan fell right onto his face while holding onto his gut. "What…what was that?" He gasped. "It felt…it felt like we were traveling through the Force and…and are we back in the ship?"

Ignoring Obi-Wan for the moment, Remus hurried along towards the cockpit, where both Asajj and Aela were frantically trying to get the ship up and running. "What's wrong?"

"Just about fucking everything!" Asajj growled as she leapt out of her seat and shoulder her way past him, making him wince as his ribs painfully reminded him of his previous injury.

"One of the engines was slightly damaged during the first attack." Aela answered him as Quinlan and Obi-Wan made their way into the cockpit. "We're trying to fix it, but it's not going well."

Overhead, the four watched as the fighter make another pass, unleashing a barrage of blaster bolts against the shield. "How much longer can this…shield hold for?" Obi-Wan asked looking over at him.

Pulling out his wand, Remus made a quick jab to connect his mind to the shield. What he found was…shocking. The shield was failing. Rapidly. _'Just what in Merlin's name is this pilot hitting us with? This shield can stand up to a barrage of spells for several hours without a problem. And even though I created it on short notice…it should've been able to hold an hour or more. But now…now it looks like it might survive another few minutes if we're lucky.'_

"Not much longer." Remus growled as he closed his eyes and started channeling his magic into the shield to try and reinforce it. "A few passes at best. Aela…I need you to bring up the runic cluster onboard."

"On it." Aela nodded as she vaulted out of her seat and towards the back of the ship.

Next to him he felt, rather than saw, Obi-Wan lean forward and look out the viewport.

"Quinlan…help them as best you can." He said pulling back and making for the exit. "I'll try and buy us some time."

"What kind of bantha shit are you going on about now Kenobi?" Quinlan growled.

"I know who's piloting that fighter." Obi-Wan sighed. "And before you say anything, this isn't some self-sacrificing act. I'll buy us some time by going out there and stalling him. While I'm doing that, you four get this ship airborne and then come and pick me up."

"One problem in that plan." Remus grunted as he felt the shield pull on his magic again. "How do you know that this guy won't simply blast you away from the safety of his ship?"

"Don't worry about that." Obi-Wan responded as he walked out of the cockpit. "He'll want to kill me in person. Not from behind the controls of a fighter."

* * *

After walking a hundred or so meters from the ship, Obi-Wan looked up and watched as the fighter went to make another pass, only to sharply veer off and speed towards him. It took everything in his power to keep himself calm as the fighter passed him over and his fears were confirmed as he felt an all too familiar presence from within.

 _'So it is him.'_ He thought as the fighter turned around and sped towards him, only to come to an abrupt stop before touching down softly a short distance in front of him. _'But why is he here? Does he know about Luke? Unlikely. Only a three of us knew about the birth of the twins and we had the droids' minds wiped. No. He can't know. But I guess it doesn't really matter how he came to be here. All that matters is that he is here. And I have to do everything I can to keep him from getting to the ship.'_

Closing his eyes, he sunk down to his knees and sought the peace and serenity of the Force even as he heard a pair of heavy boots impact the hardened sand before him. "So you are here. Obi-Wan."

"As are you, my fallen Padawan."

Opening his eyes, he stared first at a pair of black boots before looking upwards towards the helmet the hid his old friend's face. The respirator that was keeping his lungs functioning let out several deep breaths as the two just sat and stood there staring at one another. "Anakin Skywalker is dead. Whatever was left of him was destroyed on Mustafar." His fallen friend breathed. "I am Darth Vader."

"It matters not what you call yourself. Changing your name will not change who you are." Shaking his head, Obi-Wan let out a long sigh. "Tell me Anakin. Was it worth it? Was all of the pain and suffering you've inflicted upon yourself and others worth it? Your brothers and sisters in the Jedi Order slaughtered without mercy. Losing Padme and your chil-"

Obi-Wan had only a brief warning from the Force to move before he rolled backwards and onto his feet just as a red lightsaber slashed at the ground where he'd been sitting. "Do. Not. Speak. Her. Name." Vader growled and despite the unrelenting heat of Tatooine, Obi-Wan felt a chill down to his bones as the dark side of the Force radiated off of Vader. "You turned her against me!"

"As I said on Mustafar Anakin, you did that yourself." Obi-Wan replied coldly. "You are the one who turned to the dark side. You are the one who led the attack on the Jedi Temple and slaughtered younglings. And you are the one who nearly choked her to dea-."

Again, Vader slashed out at him forcing him to side step while using the Force to push himself just far enough away so to be out of the range of his lightsaber. "Your anger has unbalanced you Anakin." Obi-Wan sighed as he calmly folded his hands into the arms of his robes. "Have you forgotten everything that I taught you?"

"I told you," Vader growled. "There is no Anakin Skywalker anymore. Skywalker was weak. Pathetic. He lacked the strength to do what was needed. Now…he is gone. And soon all traces or memories of him will be gone as well."

Eyes widening, Obi-Wan risked a glance towards the ship. "That is why you've come then isn't it? To end all ties that you once had in the galaxy."

"Yes." Vader answered simply. "The slave owner Watto, he died pathetically begging for his life as I squeezed the life out of him. And those two…they had ties to Skywalker's mother. They failed to protect her…so they have more than earned their fate as well."

 _'Two? So…he doesn't know about Luke then. Thank the Force for small favors.'_ "They were innocents Anakin." Obi-Wan said, his hand moving inside the sleeves of his robes. "Have you really fallen so low that you feel nothing at killing innocents?"

"They were a nuisance. Nothing more." Vader countered back. "And now they are dead. Just as my Master wished."

"You truly have fallen far, my old Padawan." Obi-Wan sighed as he grabbed hold of the lightsaber in his sleeve and brought it out into the open. "Then I shall do what I must on my oath as a Jedi to protect innocents of the galaxy."

"You couldn't kill me on Mustafar." Vader growled while pointing his lightsaber at him. "And I have grown far far stronger since then. You will stand no chance against me now."

Arching an eyebrow, Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber. "Are you telling me this in an attempt to make me run Anakin?"

"No." Vader shot back, and he could've sworn he heard a slight twinge of amusement in his voice. "I merely wish to cause you as much despair as possible before I end your pathetic existence."

Obi-Wan nearly faltered at hearing the malicious in his voice. "I couldn't kill you on Mustafar because Anakin Skywalker was my Padawan. My friend. My brother." Taking a breath, he held up his lightsaber before his face. "Darth Vader is none of those things. And I will do what I must to ensure the safety of innocents."

"You will try. And you will fail."

Obi-Wan just barely managed to get his lightsaber up into a high block as Vader's red blade descended upon him almost faster than the eye could see. Side stepping and pushing Vader's blade off to his side, Obi-Wan settled into a traditional Soresu stance while waiting to see what Vader would do next.

Vader hesitated only a moment before once again pressing his attack. And when he did it was all Obi-Wan could do to keep up with him. Anakin had been a master at both versions of Form V when he'd been a Jedi, but usually preferred Shien. But Vader…Vader seemed to prefer Djem So. His attacks were brutally strong and more than once Obi-Wan felt his guard faltering under sheer tenacity of Vader's attacks. Back and forth the two traded blows, but as the fight progressed Obi-Wan found himself constantly on his back foot as he tried to keep himself from being overwhelmed.

Obi-Wan circled his blade hoping to break their deadlock, and ended up on the receiving end of Vader's boot right into his gut. Before he could recover, he felt his throat being constricted painfully as he was lifted up off the ground. "You skills have dulled Obi-Wan." Vader taunted him while he tried desperately to use the Force to break the hold Vader had on him. "You time spent on this rock has defeated y-"

Vader quickly turned sideways as he brought his lightsaber around to clash against the green blade that was coming right for his head. The distraction was enough that Obi-Wan was able to break through what was holding him in place and he collapsed onto the ground while taking in several desperate breaths. "Well damn. I thought I'd be able to take your head before you even noticed."

Vader remained silent as he stared at the Quinlan Vos who'd somehow managed to launch an attack without either of them even noticing. _'I didn't even feel his presence. How did he do that?_ '

"Master Quinlan Vos." Vader intoned, pushing Vos blade off to the side with his own. "You masked your presence from me to try and get in a killing blow from behind. Not very Jedi of you."

"Eh, what can I say? I'm not necessarily the stereotypical Jedi type." Vos shrugged with a grin.

"Obviously." Vader responded lowly as he carefully stepped off to the side while keeping his lightsaber in front of him. "You should have never turned your back on the dark side Vos. You don't understand the power you forsook."

"Oh, I know all too well Vader– or whatever the fuck you're calling yourself now." Vos shot back without any humor. "Perhaps in time, you too will realize the price you pay for falling uncontrollably into the cesspool that is the Dark Side."

"And yet, I still sense the dark side within you Vos." Vader said back.

"Of course," Vos nodded. "I said 'falling uncontrollably' idiot. There is such a thing known as moderation. But…I'm afraid our time here is at an end. Kenobi. Duck."

Obi-Wan had just the briefest warnings from the Force before he felt a burning heat sail over his head, singeing the hairs on the back on his neck. When he looked up again, it was to the sight of perhaps the strangest thing he had ever seen. It was some sort of canine made entirely of flame that was attacking Vader.

Vader slashed his lightsaber through the creature, cleaving it in two. But then to everyone's amazement, the canine reformed and renewed its attack against Vader. Just as Obi-Wan was regaining his feet, some sort of avian creature made of flames flew past him towards Vader, followed quickly by another four legged creature.

Abandoning his lightsaber, Vader relied solely on the Force to try and repel the creatures. He was able to keep the three of them back. But when a fourth, a snake creature, slithered into the fray, Obi-Wan could clearly see that Vader was starting to struggle.

"No time for gawking Kenobi." Vos shouted nearly in his ear as his old friend grabbed him by the shoulder and began forcibly pulling him towards away from Vader, who was now fighting against all four flame creatures while a fifth, a bird, flew towards them. "I'm not sure just what he's doing. But I don't think he can keep this up for long."

Turning towards the ship, he saw that Remus was standing on the loading ramp with his stick, wand, in hand. He felt the briefest surges of the Force and another four legged creature made of flame came to life from the tip of his wand and ran towards the other animals. "Move!" Remus grunted, the stress of what he was doing written clear across his face as the two of them reached the loading ramp. "I can't hold this up for much longer."

Deciding that questions could be left for another time, Obi-Wan let Vos guide him into the small ship before leading him to the even smaller bridge before dropping him down into one of the seats. Dropping down in the seat next to Ventress, Vos immediately took to the controls of the ship. "Remus is holding him off for the moment. But we need to leave now."

"I know," Ventress growled as she activated one last control. "Remus! Get your ass in here or we'll be leaving you to get your ass handed to you!"

"I'm in." Remus's voice echoed back. "Get us out of here! That won't hold him for long."

Leaning back in his seat, Obi-Wan rubbed at his neck as the small craft lifted up off the ground and shot off towards the sky and away from his fallen Padawan.

* * *

Standing amongst the scorched ruined land, Vader stared up at the sky. He'd been so close to having his vengeance. But once again Obi-Wan Kenobi managed to elude him. 'But not for long.' He thought as he continued to stare up in the direction the ship had flown off in. 'There is a ship in orbit. They have nowhere to go. Soon I will have my vengeance. And I will extract whatever secrets that strange Jedi has.'

It'd been his Master who'd ordered him to come to this waste of a planet. There were still traces of Anakin Skywalker within him. Traces that were preventing him from reaching his full potential with the Dark side. So on his Master's command, he'd come to put an end to those traces.

Killing the slave owner Watto had been…pathetically easy. The little flying womp rat had tried to beg for his life, offering him credits, slaves or whatever else he might want. But all of his pleas fell on deaf ears as Vader choked the life out of him.

After Watto's death, he set out on his own to put a quick end to Owen and Beru Lars. But as he was flying he…felt a disturbance in the Force. A presence that he hadn't felt in a long time. A presence that filled him with rage. His old Master was on Tatooine. So after bombing the farm he'd been ready to order his men to hunt down the wayward Jedi…when out of nowhere his old Master came out to meet him. He could've easily have blasted the Jedi from his fighter, but that would've been too impersonal. He wanted Kenobi to suffer like he had suffered. So he landed his craft and fought him: Jedi to Sith.

Their brief fight had been, in a word…disappointing. Obviously Kenobi had been neglecting his training while in isolation. The only reason that Kenobi even managed to survive had been because of the interference of Master Vos and that other strange Force user. It was a sound tactic on their part, one that Vader wouldn't let happen again. Vos distracted him while that other man used some sort of strange Force technique to create living creatures made of fire.

By the time he'd actually managed to subdue the flames that'd surrounded him; Kenobi, Vos and the mysterious Force user were all gone. And he was left standing there to ponder what had just happened.

Strange Force techniques were not a new thing for Vader. The witches of Dathomir possessed Force abilities unlike any ever seen. But the witches were all gone now. Wiped out by Count Dooku and his pet Grievous during the Clone Wars. It was highly unlikely that the witches taught their abilities to an outsider, let alone a male outsider. But perhaps there was another sect of Force users out in the galaxy that had abilities similar to the witches. But then the question became, how did the Jedi find them in the first place? And when? Or perhaps…perhaps the mysterious Force presence that brought him to his knees during the Purge was part of this sect of strange Force users.

The more he thought about it, the more that line of thought made the most sense. It would explain how they managed to stay out of his Master's vision for so long. And how they've managed to hide from them as well. If this were true…then capturing that this mysterious Force user that was traveling with Skywalker's old Master was now a top priority. Once he got his hands on him, he would extract everything the man knew of the mysterious Force user that had interrupted the purge. And once he learned everything he could, he would overthrow his Master and bring true order to the galaxy as its Emperor.

A low beeping ended Vader's thoughts as he reached down and retrieved the holocomm attached to his belt. "Commander." He said levelly as the image of the commander of the destroyer he'd confiscated appeared before him. "Report."

The commander's hologram fidgeted slightly. _**"My Lord…I regret to inform you we were unable to detain the ship before it managed to flee the system. I apologize my Lord and take full responsibility."**_

Vader stared down at the hologram suddenly thankful that his mask prevented anyone from seeing his face. "Send a shuttle to my location. I shall deal with your failure when I arrive."

The commander visibly gulped. _**"Yes my Lord. A shuttle is on its way a-"**_

Crushing the communicator in his hand, Vader faced off against the now-deserted farm before him. Howling in rage, he lashed out at the nearest object, a large moisture generator. The device shattered into a thousand pieces before coming back together in a ball of condensed metal that he then threw as far as he could. Next he turned to a nearby speeder that was stripped into pieces within seconds. Still not satisfied, he focused in one the hut before him. Reaching deep, he grabbed the hut at its base buried within the groaned. With hardly any effort he pulled the entirety of the hut out of the ground, lifting it nearly a dozen meters into the air before crushing it when he clenched his fist.

By the time his shuttle arrived there was little left of the moisture farm. Sweeping past the troopers that'd come down in the shuttle without even a passing glance, Vader hand his way towards the front of the shuttle. Both pilots cowered slightly from his presence as he stood in the forward section of the small ship. "Take me to my ship. Now."

* * *

Sitting in the mess hall of the small ship he now found himself on, Obi-Wan held his head in his hands as he tried to meditate in order to find some semblance of peace. But no matter how hard he tried, peace eluded him. His failure, doubly so now, kept taunting at the edges of his mind preventing him from finding any rest.

"Alright, knock that shite off right now Kenobi."

Raising his head, Obi-Wan let out a tired sigh. "Not now Vos."

"No. Now Kenobi." Quinlan said, marching across the small room and taking the seat right next to Obi-Wan. "You need to stop this shite right now man. What happened back there isn't your fault."

"Yes it is Vos." Obi-Wan nearly growled. "Triply so. First I failed to prevent Anakin from falling to the Dark side. Then I failed to end the Sith that he'd become when I had the chance. And now I've failed to protect a pair of innocents who'd done no wrong ever."

"Alright Kenobi, enough the pity party." Vos growled. "Do you have any idea how I felt after everything that I did during the time I served with Count Dooku as his Apprentice? Shite…it took the old man himself to actually get my ass back in gear after I came back to the Order. So I'm basically going to give you the same advice that he gave me. Learn from your past. But don't let it consume who you are."

Letting Quinlan's words sink in, Obi-Wan turned and gave his old friend a small grin. "Thanks Quinlan."

"Eh, that's what I'm here for. Moral support and all that bantha shit." He laughed before clapping Obi-Wan on the back. "Now come on. We got some time now, so let's go and properly introduce you to our new allies in their tent."

"Tent?" Obi-Wan questioned as Quinlan led him out of the mess room and towards one of the two crew quarter rooms.

Pressing a button to open the door, the two were met with the sight of a…tent. An actual cloth tent that looked barely big enough to hold two people laying down side by side. "Okay…" Obi-Wan said wearily as he reached out and felt some vibrations from the Force emanating from the tent. "Is this another joke?"

"Trust me Kenobi," Quinlan smiled as he held the tent flap aside for him. "This is no joke."

Figuring that he'd already come this far, Obi-Wan ducked into the tent– and was nearly run over by Quinlan as he tried to enter behind him. The inside of the tent…wasn't simply possible. The room they were now standing within was perhaps bigger than even the ship! And all around him he could feel the Force. Focusing hard, he tried to break through whatever illusion was being cast. But he couldn't.

"Alright…" Obi-Wan said slowly. "What is going on?"

"I believe it's called 'spatial compression, Master Kenobi." Remus's voice called out to him from the back of the tent. A moment later the scruffy looking man appeared, bare chested with numerous bandages wrapped around his middle. "Our people have learned quite a few interesting ways to utilize magic, or the Force as you call it. This tent is one of those applications. Using magic to create a spatially compressed area within another finite area. Quite ingenious don't you think?"

Reaching out with his hand, Obi-Wan felt the cloth canvas with his bare hand. "This…this is real."

"Well at least he's having a better reaction than Ahsoka." Remus laughed drawing Obi-Wan immediately out of his musing. "She must've run in and out of her tent about a dozen or so times before she was actually convinced that what she was seeing was real."

"Move your ass Kenobi, you're blocking the way."

Spinning around, he found a mildly irate looking Ventress standing behind him waiting for him to move so she could enter the tent. "Still so uncivilized." He muttered moving aside for the former Sith Acolyte.

Ventress however merely glanced at him, growled, and then flipped a credit chip towards Quinlan. "You told him to say that, didn't you?"

"Not at all," Quinlan smirked as he pocketed his newly acquired chip. "I just know Kenobi better than you."

Shaking his head, Obi-Wan turned back towards Remus as the other man sat down at a table in the center of the tent and pulled out a crystal like bottle full of a deep brown-red liquid.

"Firewhiskey," he explained before pulling out a stick and waving it in a tight circle. Beneath where his stick was pointing the air…vibrated almost as he felt a surge of the Force and then there were five glasses, each the size of a fist, sitting there. "It'll probably help considering the day we just had."

Taking a seat across from him, Obi-Wan picked up one of the glasses to inspect it. "How did you create this with the Force?"

"I told ya Kenobi," Vos chuckled as he took a seat next to him with Ventress sitting as far away as she could while still being at the table. "They're people have found uses for the Force that we've never even dreamed of. Or maybe someone has, but if they had then they were never researched. Even the old man was more than slightly awed by what mere children could do."

Deciding to fish for information, Obi-Wan set his glass down and let Remus fill it with several fingers of the liquor. "And where is your world?" He asked taking the glass but not drinking. "If it were anywhere in the Republic Core Worlds the Jedi would've noticed it immediately. Especially if it has a Force sensitive population like you claim."

"Well that's the thing Kenobi." Quinlan once again answered, downing his drink in one go. Curiously enough…his face turned slightly red as he did so and he could've sworn wisps of steam escaped from his friend's ears. "Their world isn't in the Core, or even in the Outer Rim. Their world is deep in the uncharted sections of the galaxy."

Obi-Wan merely dropped his drink. In a way…it made sense. A world so heavily saturated with Force sensitives would have to be far, far away from any Jedi or Sith in order to remain unnoticed. Deciding that his drink was looking better and better, he downed the entire glass in one go. And wished he hadn't. "Force!" He cried as he felt steam leave his ears and…and a small stream of fire pass from his lips. "What is in that?"

"I told you," Remus laughed. "Firewhiskey. It lives up to its name. But continuing on, what Quinlan just told you is true. Our world is deep in the 'uncharted' section of the galaxy. Because of that, we've been uninfluenced by either the Sith or the Jedi and as such have been allowed to develop our magic, or Force abilities, as we see fit."

"So why leave now?" Obi-Wan asked. "It can't be coincidence that you people decided to leave the safety of your world so soon after the Purge."

"No it isn't a coincidence." Aela announced, walking into the main room and picking up one of the glasses and downing its contents with ease. "There is a…Veil of sorts around our world. No one knows where it came from, but it essentially blocks Force users from finding us. Well, except for Nox that is. But the Veil is weakening. By best estimate in a decade or so it will be gone. And when it fails, the Sith will know who we are and will come looking for us. Best guess? Within the next fifty years the might of the Galactic Empire will be knocking on our home looking to extinguish us."

"So it's allies then." Obi-Wan concluded, leaning back and falling into his 'Negotiator' role that'd been famous for during the Clone Wars. "You're offering sanctuary to lost Jedi in hopes that we will help defend your home against the Empire when they come knocking."

"Crude, but essentially yes." Remus nodded, filling his glass again. "But don't get us wrong. We didn't wait until you Jedi were on your last legs before coming after you. In truth…this is the first voyage denizens of our world has made beyond our own moon in history. And only a dozen or so of us even know about this trip. That is why we couldn't offer aid before. Nox has been slowly building up Earth's technology, but it's a slow process."

Rubbing at his beard, Obi-Wan idly turned his glass in his hand as he tried to think. "So why have you come after me? Over all the Jedi in the galaxy? Is it because of Luke?"

"In part." Aela admitted. "When we parted with the others, Madam Nox tasked us with three things: The first was to find you and young Luke. And that was simply because we knew where you two were. The second, is to find any wayward Jedi and offer them sanctuary. And third, is to collect one Leia Skywalker from Bail Organa. If he's willing to let her go of course."

Sighing, Obi-Wan put his glass down. "Now I see why it was so important that I join you as well. I'm the only one here besides Master Yoda who can get into contact with Senator Organa without the alerting the Empire."

"That's not the only reason Kenobi." Vos said shaking his head. "I would've come for you no matter what."

Lowering his eyes, Obi-Wan took a few deep calming breaths before turning towards Remus. "I need my trunk Master Lupin."

"Just Remus will do." The man responded with a slight smile as he reached into one of his coat pockets and pulled out the miniaturized trunk that held all of Obi-Wan's possessions.

Pulling out his strange stick, Remus touched the tip of it to his trunk and Obi-Wan was able to just barely feel a slight surge of the Force as the trunk floated off of his hand as it started to enlarge. By the time it touched down softly on the floor it was back to the same size it'd always been.

"Fascinating." Obi-Wan breathed as he felt the trunk, both with his hand and through the Force, trying to figure out what type of Force trick he'd used to hide it. "How did you hide it?"

"I didn't, at least not how you're thinking." Remus replied. "I actually did shrink the trunk and everything within."

"Don't gawk too much Kenobi," Vos laughed as Obi-Wan continued to stare down at the trunk that held all of his belongings. "He hasn't even begun to show you all the ways his people have discovered to use the Force. Even Master Yoda was floored by some of the things they can do."

Opening the trunk, Obi-Wan rummaged down towards the bottom before finding what he was looking for. A small handheld holocomm. Taking his seat once more, Obi-Wan hesitated only for a moment before activating the small device. "There is a chance that Senator Organa won't answer," Obi-Wan explained as the communicator started beeping in his hand as it tried to establish a connection. "If he doesn't what shall–"just then the image of Senator Organa appeared floating just above the surface of the small disk. "Never mind."

 _ **"Master Kenobi, it is good to hear from you again."**_ The Senator greeted with a slight bow. _ **"But I must admit that I am more than slightly surprised. I had not expected to hear from you again so soon."**_

"Apologies, Senator Organa." Kenobi greeted back with a nod of his head. "I understand that this call is more than unexpected, but unfortunately the situation has changed and I was forced to flee Tatooine with Luke and his Aunt and Uncle."

Bail composure faltered slightly. _**"What happened?"**_

"Vader came to Tatooine in an effort to remove any and all lingering ties that Anakin Skywalker had with the galaxy." Obi-Wan said with a shake of his head. He should've predicted such a move, but part of him still yearned for the possibility that his former friend wasn't lost completely. "We managed to prevent that, for the most part. But we were forced to flee Tatooine."

 _ **"And what of Luke? Is Vader aware as to his true parentage?"**_

"No, thank the Force." Obi-Wan sighed. "But unfortunately, we can't rule out the possibility that he will eventually put it all together. Luke is strong. So strong that it's impossible that Vader hadn't noticed him. And with my presence so close to the child's, Vader will eventually put it together. And because of that, and I'm sorry to ask this of you, but I feel that it would be for the best that Leia comes with us as well."

On the holo, Bail stared at him blankly for a moment before sighing and shaking his head. _**"I'm sorry Master Kenobi. But that is impossible now."**_ Bail said before holding up his hand to stop Obi-Wan from responding. _ **"That isn't to say that I don't agree with you. In fact, if I could I would put my wife and daughter on a shuttle and send them to your location within the hour. But that is no longer an option. The Emperor, is his infinite 'wisdom', has expressed concerns about my well-being.**_ _**He feels that since my family has had such long ties with the Order, that my family and I could be the main targets in a retribution strike. To that end, he has assigned personal guards to look after every member of my family. Even my extended family. And should any of us turn up missing, he's promised me that they will stop at nothing to make sure that I am reunited with my family."**_ The senator looked at Obi-Wan trying to stress the hypocrisy of Palpatine's order.

Leaning back, Obi-Wan scratched at his beard. _'Thankfully Leia isn't particularly strong in the Force._ ' "I understand Senator Organa. And I apologize for backing you into such an awkward situation."

"Pay it no heed, Master Kenobi." Bail said, waving off his concern. _**"My wife and I both knew what we agreed to the moment we took young Leia into our home. But if I may ask, where will you be going now that Tatooine is no longer an option?"**_

Looking across the tent, Obi-Wan met Remus's eyes. The man stared back at him for a moment before shaking his head. "I'm afraid that for both of our sakes, Senator Organa, that that particular piece of information is better left unknown."

 _ **"I understand Master Kenobi."**_ Bail responded quickly, almost as if he'd expected that answer. _ **"But before you go, I believe I have some information that you will find most interesting. It appears that the Empire has managed to track a Jedi Master to the world of Felucia. I don't know who this Master is, or whether or not they are even there. But the Empire is currently putting together an entire battlegroup to deal with them. And in the meantime, just about every bounty hunter in the sector is heading for Felucia to try and cash in on the bounty."**_

That was definitely something worth knowing. "Thank you for the information Senator. Take care of yourself, and may the Force be with you."

 _ **"And you as well, my friend."**_ Senator Organa bowed before the hologram flickered out of existence.

"Well, that went about as well as we predicted." Vos commented as Obi-Wan lowered his communicator. "Any guesses as to who this 'Master' is?"

At this, Obi-Wan merely shrugged. "There are a number of Master's who are believed to have escaped the Purge. Most notably Rahm Kota, your own Master Tholme. Master Shaak Ti and Master T'ra Saa. But none of them were stationed anywhere near Felucia before the Purge. The only Jedi Master who was stationed in that sector was Master Secura. And by your own accounts, she is now with this Nox and the others. It could be Barriss Offee, she was with Master Secura on Felucia. But unfortunately I highly doubt that is the case, as last I heard the Empire managed to capture her."

"Perhaps whoever is there thought that Aayla would still be there." Aela offered. "Is this Felucia a highly populated world?"

"Sparsely." Vos answered. "It's a garden world for the most part. I could see Master T'ra Saa heading there. But anyone else? I'm not so sure. The land is pretty inhospitable without the aid of technology. Either that, or you'd have to be very adapt with the Force in order to survive unaided for any amount of time. But that might also work to our advantage because then they will be easier for us to find."

"So what are we waiting for?" Aela asked. "A sparsely populated world. A lost Jedi. A few hundred bounty hunters and their ships standing between us…it ought to be fun."

Sighing, Obi-Wan down his second glass of the liquor. At least this time he managed to keep his reaction under control. "You and I Madam…have two very different definitions of the word 'fun'."

* * *

Walking through the halls of Hogwarts with Hermione, Ron, Daphne and Tracey at his side, Harry marveled at just how…different he felt. Their 'trip' over the summer had definitely opened the eyes of his friends. Even Harry, who'd been training his whole life to fight, had been shaken slightly. So together, they had decided that they were no longer going to hold themselves back for the sake of their peers. Sooner or later, they were going to be fighting in a war. They didn't have time for the ridiculous drama of school.

Their first class of the year had been a transfiguration group class that had all four houses present. For the first part, Professor McGonagall had lectured about transfiguring an animate object into an inanimate one, and had then presented each of them with a small hedgehog into a pincushion. While the rest of the class floundered about, waving their wands and mispronouncing the spell badly, Harry and his group merely pulled out their wands and as one, touched their individual hedgehogs and created seven perfect pincushions.

The entire class pretty much came to a standstill after that, with McGonagall doing no more than raising an eyebrow at their quick success before asking them to turn them back, which they all did without hesitation. Then, just because Harry felt like it, he then transfigured the hedgehog wordlessly into a pincushion and then back. That had gotten a reaction out of his usually unflappable Professor. Nothing more than a slightly widening of the eyes, but a reaction nonetheless.

Their next class of the day had been Potions. Which completely failed to deviate from the same format that it'd been following for the past three years. The students would file into the class. Snape would throw insults at them, most of which were directed at Harry, lecture for a few minutes and then put up some potion on the board with instructions and told them to get to work. Even the sabotaging attempts by Draco and the few Slytherin allies he had left hadn't ceased. If anything they increased in number and creativity. But despite everything, Harry and Ron still managed to brew a perfect potion and handed it in at the end of class without uttering a single word to Snape or Draco. Neither of them were worth it anyway.

The next day they started out with History of Magic. Which again none of them even bothered to pretend to pay attention, not that Binns seemed to even notice or care for that matter, as they all worked on reading ahead in their runes and arithmancy classes which they had later on that same day.

By the third day, their not-so-small group had gained an almost legendary status within the school's fourth years. Mostly due to their performances in both Charms and Transfiguration in which they were able to perform any and all spells put forth to them by the Professors. And in both Ancient Runes and Arithmancy by acing the after acing the beginning of the year exams in each class.

"So, what do you think Professor Moody is going to be like in class?" Hermione asked out loud as they made their way up to the defense classroom.

"Ginny said that he was…mad. But brilliant." Harry answered as they came within sight of the room. Ginny had a few more choice words for the man, but in the end had concluded that he was probably the best man to teach defense; bar Remus of course. "She also said to be ready for anything. So keep alert at all times."

The moment they walked through the doors to the classroom, Harry felt his back immediately stiffen slightly, but still managed to keep his composure. Moody wasn't at his desk. In fact…he didn't appear to be anywhere in the room. With a slight nod to his friends, the five of them took their seats next to one another as Harry calmly palmed his wand and cast a wordless spell.

As soon as the last of the students took their seats, the door to the room slammed shut and no less than a dozen stinging hexes shot out from the back of the class hitting several students in the back or on their rump. All except for Harry that is. As the stinging hex that'd been aimed for him splashed harmlessly against the shield he'd managed to cast over his back.

"Constant vigilance!"

A part of the back wall shimmered as Professor Moody suddenly became visible to the naked eye. His rotating eye moving around the class as he walked towards the front of the room, only to come to a halt next to Harry. "How did you know Potter?"

"You might want to consider changing your aftershave Professor." Harry answered back. "Even though I couldn't see you, I could smell you the moment I walked into the room and figured that, since you were hiding, you were planning on doing something so I took steps to protect myself."

Moody stared at him for a minute or two before throwing his head back and laughing. "That's the best one yet Potter! You've got your father's wit, no doubt about that. And it looks like you inherited a bit of his skill too." Limping the rest of the way to the front of the class, Moody spun on his heel and glared at all of them before continuing.

"Let's get one thing straight right here and now you little whelps. I've been through several wars, both magical and mundane. I've been fighting dark wizards and witches since before most of your parents were alive. And the only reason I am here is because Dumbledore practically browbeat me into taking the post. I am not here to be your friend. I am here for one reason only. And that is to try and teach you little shites some of what I've learned over my extensive career."

Turning his back to the class, Moody started digging through his desk. "Brown! You'd better put that paper under the desk away before I turn back around or it'll be ash!"

At the table next to him, Lavender jumped and blushed bright red as she hurried to put away the astronomy homework that she'd been showing Parvati under the table. "Sorry Professor." She mumbled.

Moody didn't bother to respond to her as he turned back around. "Now, looking back over what you learned in the previous three years…eh, what the bloody hell am I talking about? The only time you even learned anything was last year under Lupin. So we have a lot of ground to cover this year. Starting with curses."

Drawing his wand out, Moody flicked it towards the board where one of the pieces of chalk began to write on its own. "Now there are more bloody curses out there than we can count." Moody lectured as he walked up and down the rows of students. "Some are instantaneous whereas some could take years to actually show any effect. My leg was hit with an acid curse back in the Second World War; started disintegrating my flesh and bone right away. Ended up cutting my own leg off with a cutting curse to the knee in order to stop it. But of all the curses out there…there are three that are considered 'unforgivable'. Using any of these curses without Ministry consent will earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban for life. Now, who can name them? Malfoy. I'm sure that you know one. After all, your father cried it often enough."

Draco flushed brightly. "The Imperius Curse."

"Heard that one from your father didn't ya?" Moody glared at Malfoy. "But you're right…so take five bloody points to Slytherin. Now who can name another one? Longbottom."

Neville jumped slightly at hearing his name called and started to stutter. "Um…the-the Cruciatus Curse…"

"Right, take five for Gryffindor lad." Moody said before hobbling up to Neville and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Your parents were two of the best folks I've ever known. Don't let what happened to them destroy ya lad. Now that's two down and one to go…Potter."

"The Killing Curse, Professor." Harry answered without hesitation.

"Right you are lad. Five more points for Gryffindor." Moody nodded while moving back to the chalkboard. "These curses are indeed dangerous. But there are many out there that have similar effects, if to a lesser degree. So why are these three considered to be so 'Unforgivable'? Greengrass."

"Because there is no magical way to defend one's self against them Professor." Daphne answered back immediately. "You can avoid them or place physical objects between you and the caster. But unlike other magical curses or hexes, there is no known magical way to defend against those three."

Turning around, Moody gazed at Daphne with a slight grin. "I'll give ya three points for that answer Greengrass. Mostly because there does seem to be a magical way to defend against them, otherwise Mr. Potter here wouldn't be with us any longer." At that, most of the class turned towards Harry, but Moody pressed on regardless of the distraction. "And you also get partial credit because while there is no known magical defense against the three, two of them can be resisted."

With a tight twirl of his wand, Moody summoned three large jars from his desk, inside of each were a large spider. Opening the first jar, Moody enlarged the spider before magically lifting it up and placing it on his desk. "Now, for obvious reasons I'm not about to teach you whelps how to cast these curses. But I am, with Ministry approval mind you, show them to you. And we'll start off with the Imperius curse. _Imperio!"_

Immediately, the spider on his desk froze before it started to do cartwheels across the desk surface and then jumping-jacks. "Quite amusing, isn't it?" Moody asked as the majority of the class, save for Harry and his friends, laughed as the spider proceeded to jump around the room. "I can make it do acrobatics. Or maybe even sing a song if it had the lungs for it. Or maybe…maybe I'll make it jump out the window to its death." The spider jumped towards the window before stopping right on its edge. "Or maybe I should make it drown itself." The spider moved over to a pail of water Moody had conjured and sat on the edge. No one in the class was laughing now.

"The Imperius Curse gives one total control over another." Moody said seriously, all levity gone from his voice. "I could make this spider kill itself or its loved ones and it would do it without hesitation. Now going back to Ms. Greengrass's answer. It is possible to resist this curse if one has a strong mind." He accented his point by glaring at Draco, who flushed in anger in response. "But also, if the commands given are too complex or if they go against the true will of the recipient, then the curse becomes easier to resist. Now, onto the next curse."

Pulling the next spider out from its jar, he repeated the process of enlarging the spider before pointing his wand at it. _"Crucio!"_

The spider immediately started squealing and writhing on the desk top. As quick as the spell started however, Moody ended it and put the spider back in its jar. "The Torture Curse." He said solemnly. "I've been the recipient of this curse no less than ten times in my lifetime. Short term exposure is easily survivable and the after effects can be countered. But prolonged exposure…can cause death or worse."

Harry couldn't help but notice the look that Moody shot Neville, or the fact that Neville seemed to fold in on himself. Harry could sympathize with his classmate. He'd heard from Sirius and Amelia that after Voldemort's fall, his followers went after Neville's parents and tortured them for information for some reason. The two managed to survive, but they both lost their minds as a result. His mother, after hearing the story and recognizing a chance, had delved into ways to potentially heal the mind, but even after three years of research she'd come up empty.

"And now for the last curse." Moody said, bringing Harry back to the present as he brought out the last spider and enlarged it. Without any fanfare, Moody pointed his wand at the spider and said, _"Avada kedavra."_

A sickly green light that Harry knew all too well leapt out of Moody's wind and hit the spider. The arachnid immediately flipped over onto its back as its leg curled in on themselves.

"Instantaneous death." Moody growled. "There is no way to stop the curse expect to get out of its way or place something in its path, and there has been only one case in history. And he is sitting right here in front of me."

Again the entire class turned towards Harry, but Moody didn't let the silence reign as he pressed on. "Now obviously I'm not about to use any of these curses on you. Nor am I going to show you how to actually perform them. Don't feel like carting any of your sorry arses off to Azkaban just yet. But we are going to be going over some of the finer details of the curses. So get out your bloody quills and parchment and start paying attention."

For the rest of the class Moody lectured on the history of the curses and their individual properties. But despite the wealth of knowledge, Moody kept his word and didn't actually tell them how to cast the curses outside of 'ya can't just wave your wand and say the curse'.

At the end of the class while everyone was packing away their belongings, Moody called out to him. "Potter. Stay after and come up to my office."

Sharing a quick, reassuring, glance with his friends, Harry packed up the rest of his supplies and headed towards the back of the classroom towards Moody's office. The inside of the office could only be defined as 'spartan'. The only things decorating the office was a liquor cabinet. A large trunk. And Moody's desk. "Have a seat Potter." Moody growled as he opened the liquor cabinet, pull out two glass, filled each with what could've only been firewhiskey and then sat down at the desk while pushing one glass towards Harry.

"I'm underage sir." Harry said as Moody downed his glass in one go.

"Hogwash." Moody growled. "You're what? Fourteen? By your age your father, godfather and Remus were all shite-faced and swinging from the candles in the Great Hall. Don't try to sell me some story about you never having a drink before. Now drink up lad."

Still more than slightly wary, Harry drew his wand out just enough to line it along one of his fingers while still keeping it out of sight from Moody. The moment his hand, and wand, touched the glass the liquid inside evaporated in a puff of yellow smoke. "Really Professor?" Harry asked, fanning the smoke away from him. "Veritaserum?"

Instead of being mad however, Moody merely laughed. "Ha! Well done lad. The last one to catch onto that little trick was your father and Nymphadora. Now, you saw me pour the drink and drink from the same bottle. So how did I get the serum in yours and not in mine?"

Harry thought for a second before grinning as the answer came to him. "You laced the glass with the serum. That's why you were careful with which glass you handed me."

This time, Moody nearly doubled over as he laughed. "Ha! Right you are lad! Not even your father got that one right!" Reaching into the folds of his robe, Moody pulled out his own flask and took a long pull. "Now lad…how about you drop the act."

"Sir?"

"Your glasses lad." Moody said completely serious. "I don't know who made those for you, either Sirius or my own little protégé Nymphadora. But those bloody things were designed specifically to fool my eye. Which of course caught my attention. Now take them off."

Realizing that there was no way he was going to talk himself out of this one, Harry reached up and took off his glasses. "Well then," Moody nodded as Harry's black and green eyes became visible. "That explains why you would wear those things. People often explain that which they cannot understand as dark. Mind telling me how you got those?"

Putting his glasses back on, Harry figured that a half-truth would be better than an outright lie. "My mother took me on a spiritual journey of sorts this summer. My eyes were a side effect of that journey."

Moody stared at him for a long moment before nodding. "Aye. I've heard of those spiritual journey things. Several cultures have them within their magical community and they can cause some physical changes. But just off the record, you might want to work on that story a bit. For starters, I, and Dumbledore, know that your mother took you and all of your merry band of friends on a trip this summer. Where we don't know, but we know."

Harry couldn't help but blink. Sure he kind of figured that Dumbledore would know that he and a number of students disappeared for most of the summer. But to hear it confirmed was still somewhat shocking. "So…are you going to tell Dumbledore about my eyes then?"

"Why the bloody hell would I do that?" Moody growled, surprising Harry. "I respect the old man, but I'm not his spy. And if he can't figure out that you're fooling him, than that's his problem." Pausing, Moody took another pull of his drink. "I'll speak plainly lad. Dumbledore thinks you're going dark. You and your little entourage. And the whole reason I'm here this year is to ascertain whether or not that is true."

"So why tell me?" Harry asked. "If you're trying to find out whether or not I'm going dark, telling me your purpose seems sort of counter intuitive."

"It's like I told you kid, I ain't no spy." Moody growled. "And also…because I know your father. Hell, I was the one who trained him after he finished school. Do you know that the night Voldemort came for you he brought several of his flunkies along with him? Forensics determined that your father killed two and went toe to toe with Voldemort himself for a time. A third was killed as well, your adoptive mother's work I'd imagine."

"And what's your point?" Harry asked leaning back.

Leaning forward, both of Moody's eyes fixed on Harry as he conjured another glass for Harry and poured a fair amount of firewhiskey into it. "My point is this lad. I saw a spark in your father. He was willing to do what needed to be done to preserve the peace. Even if it meant he had to kill someone. Was he dark because of that? Fuck no. And I see that same spark in you lad. Do I think you're dangerous? Yes. But so am I. Do I think that there's a possibility of you going 'dark'? Possible. But then again, many consider me dark as well."

Reaching out, Harry idly turned the glass in his hand. "So what are you going to tell Dumbledore? That I'm dangerous?"

"Bloody hell kid, give the old man some credit. He already knows that you're dangerous. He's just worried about you." Moody chuckled darkly. "The old man has seen the rise to two dark lord's lad. He sees some of your traits and actions that are identical to those taken by Voldemort and Grindelwald. But what he doesn't realize; is that your actions also mirror his own. So for me kid, the way I see it is that you could either become the next Light Lord, or you could become the next Dark Lord. Just know though…should you go dark I will hunt you down and either kill you or throw your sorry arse in Azkaban to rot."

"Or there's a third option Professor." Harry countered. "I don't become either."

Moody actually seemed rather surprised by that omission. "A Grey Lord? Huh. There hasn't been one of those in a long bloody time. Since well before Merlin. That…would be quite the sight to see."

"Well then Professor," Harry said as he stood up and picked up the glass, downing its contents and doing everything in his power not to cough it all back up. "Keep your eyes open and stay alive along enough, and you might just see that."

"We'll see lad….we'll see." Moody said as Harry walked out of the Professor's office.

Just outside of the classroom, Harry found all of his friends, including Susan, Hannah, Ginny and Luna who must've run down after their classes were down. Hermione, ever the impatient one, spotted him first. "Well Harry?"

Instead of answering though, Harry turned to Daphne before motioning for everyone to start walking. "What did you pick up from him?"

"It was…difficult to get an accurate read on him." Daphne admitted. "Probably because of his magical eye, or leg, or the fact that a third of his body is being held together through magical means. But what I could sense was a darkness lurking within him. I believe that he could be made into an ally. Especially with what we've heard from Tonks and Sirius."

"I think so too," Harry admitted, thinking back on the conversation they'd just had. "But for the moment…we play the waiting game."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Welcome back everyone! Just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who's stayed with me so far! Thank you all so much! And thank you to all who've reviewed, alerted, or added this story to your favorites. Your support has been absolutely mind blowing.**

 **Now just a quick note. With the holidays coming up and a few other things that are going to be happening I might not be able to keep to a bi-weekly update schedule. I'm going to be trying my best to keep my updates coming, but please be patient with me.**

 **Also, as we are getting on into year four there is something I want address. Not sure if any of you will have an issue with this, but I cannot write in foreign accents. So, I'll be writing out Krum and Fleur just like I write out everyone else. You can put the accents in in your head.**

 **And lastly, just a big thank you to my two beta readers HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon. Thank you guys so much for your continued help!**

 **Chapter 9**

Standing on the bridge of the Howling Wind, Remus watched as their small ship passed directly beneath one that must've been at least ten times large. "Thank Merlin those runes are working correctly." Aela breathed they pass by two more ships that were only slightly larger than their own. "Otherwise this would've been a real short trip."

"How many bounty hunter groups do you count Asajj?" Quinlan asked as they drifted closer to the garden world of Felucia.

"Seven." Asajj answered immediately. "All independent groups with little to no affiliation with one another. And no sign of the Hutt cartel either. Which is surprising considering the amount of potential credits on the line. I was half expecting those slugs to be leading this assault."

"How about you Kenobi?" Quinlan asked without turning around. "Have any luck feeling out our wayward Jedi?"

In the back of the small cockpit, Obi-Wan was sitting completely still with his eyes close. While Remus wasn't quite sure just how he was doing it, if he concentrated hard enough he could feel that the Jedi was…reaching out through magic searching for something.

"It is…difficult. There are two but both are…under duress and…there. This presence it's– it's Master Shaak Ti." Obi-Wan gasped, his eyes shooting up as he rushed towards the front the small bridge and began inputting commands into the computer. "This is their location and we need to hurry. I can sense she's in great danger."

Remus felt the ship jolt beneath his feet as they began moving faster towards the planet. As they began to enter the planet's atmosphere, Remus began nervously shifting the few pieces of armor that he had on, while next to him Aela, wearing the same armor she had when they rescued Ahsoka, stood completely at ease. Remus was still not used to wearing armor on his body, and while he was wearing considerably less than Aela, nothing more than a chest piece and sectioned off leg and arm pieces, it was still new and unfamiliar.

"You'll be fine old wolf." Aela smirked, lightly shouldering him as the ship rocked slightly as it entered the planet's atmosphere.

Once they were fully in the atmosphere, it didn't take them long at all to find where their wayward Jedi was. A ship, more than three or four times of the Ashara, had landed on the planet's surface. Or rather, judging by the trail of destruction leading up to it; crashed was probably the more correct word to use. Surrounding the downed ship hidden within the strange tree-like fauna covering the planet were dozens maybe even a hundred or more bounty hunters if the scattered blaster fire heading towards the ship was any indication.

And standing just outside of a heavily damaged section of the ship, distinguishable only because of the blue lightsaber that was moving around her body, was their missing Jedi Master. "Curious." Obi-Wan muttered as he leaned forward to get a better look. "It looks like she found another Jedi or Padawan. And- and she has some help as well. But their uniforms…no. That's impossible."

Looking down at the scene again, Remus did notice a pair of lightsabers that were moving around a much smaller figure standing next to the larger one. But as his eyes roamed around the area, he saw what had Obi-Wan so confused. Standing next to the two Jedi was a figure dressed in white and blue armor fighting side by side with the Jedi. And perched on top of the ruined ship were two more soldiers similarly dressed that were firing into the trees.

"Clones?" Quinlan whispered, clearly just as confused as Obi-Wan. "But…why are they fighting with the Jedi? They all turned on us."

Out of the corner of his eye, Remus noticed that Obi-Wan had a pensive look on his face. "You know something," he said, turning to the Jedi Master. "Don't you?"

"Rumors and suspicions only." Obi-Wan countered quickly. "But those can wait for later. Right now we have to get down there and rescue Master Ti, her Padawan and those troopers who are supporting them."

"Easier said than done Kenobi," Asajj growled as she circled their ship around the battle ground. "In case your eyes are failing you, that's a Republic Blockade Runner. Either these hunters got a lucky shot on it up in space, or they're packing some serious ground-to-air weaponry. But my point is, the moment we start picking them up, our stealth drive won't mean shit as the hunters will just be able to fire blindly at where people are disappearing and they be bound to hit us before we can get away. And it's the same with dropping you four off. You appear out of midair, and they'll open fire on where you appeared from."

"Well one of those problems is easily taken care of." Remus countered. "Aela and I can apparate Quinlan and Obi-Wan down to surface. You won't need to land."

"But what about getting back?" Quinlan asked. "Can you use one of those…what did Nox call it? A portkey?"

"No." Aela answered immediately. "The interior of this ship is too small to accommodate a portkey landing site."

"We can figure the finer details out later," Obi-Wan cut in, ending the conversation. "Right now we have two Jedi and three troopers that are about to be overrun. Remus. Can you bring us down to the surface just like you did back on Tatooine?"

"Yes." Remus nodded. "As long as I can see where we're going."

"Good." Obi-Wan said turning and pointing out of the front viewport. "I want you to put us right behind the hunters in the trees. We'll attack them from behind and cut a path to Master Ti. Give her a chance to see us before suddenly appearing on top of her. Ventress. I want you to fly around and try to find these ground-to-air weapons if they have them. We'll radio you with a pick up point once we've secured Master Ti and others. Now let's get to work."

"Yes sir." Remus responded automatically, suddenly being reminded of Mad-Eye Moody only much more…refined.

Without waiting for another word, Remus and Aela stepped up and grabbed hold of Obi-Wan and Quinlan respectively. A quick turn and they were traveling through the ether of magic until their feet hit solid ground. The first thing that Remus noticed about this new world was the heat. It was almost as warm as Tatooine, but unlike the desert world, this one had a humidity level that made it almost unbearable.

Quinlan and Obi-Wan either didn't notice the heat or simply didn't care as the two Jedi sprung to action the moment their feet touched solid ground as they activated their lightsabers and made for nearest bounty hunter they could find. The first hunter they came upon, which looked like some lizard creature, didn't even have time to turn around before he was cut in half from behind by Quinlan before the Jedi leapt up into a nearby tree where another hunter had taken up residence.

Obi-Wan seemed to be the more defensive of the two of them, preferring to use the Force to incapacitate any hunter who crossed their path, or by using his lightsaber to deflect any shots taken at them back to their senders with pinpoint accuracy. Beside him, Aela moved with the grace of a hunter as she took the few odd shots at any hunters that Obi-Wan and Quinlan missed.

Which granted, wasn't very many. While Aela may have started to favor her blaster over her wand in some instances, Remus preferred the familiar weight of his wand and used it to expertly send cutting curses or blasting hexes at the trees in an effort to clear the four of them a path.

As they drew closer to the edge of the tree line, the defenders of the ship must've realized they'd had help coming as their fire had steered away from where they were coming from. From this distance, Remus's wolf senses were able to clearly see the defenders of the downed ship. There was a woman who, judging from what he'd seen in Nox's memories and from having met Ahsoka, was a Togruta. But the other, clearly younger woman had pale skin and what looked like small red horns sticking up from her forehead.

"Stay close!" Obi-Wan shouted as the four of them breached the tree line. "Remus! As soon as we're with the others create that shield again!"

The two Jedi didn't wait for him to agree as they rushed out of the trees, their lightsabers a constant blur of motion as they shielded Remus and Aela across the short distance from the trees to the downed ship. "Master Kenobi!" The Togruta, presumably this Master Shaak Ti, shouted as the four of them reached the small barricade that'd been set up. "Your timing is impeccable, if unexpected. Like always."

"It's good to see you alive and well Master Ti." Obi-Wan responded casually as he continued to deflect blaster bolts. "Remus, if you would please."

Ducking slightly behind the makeshift cover, Remus pointed his wand skywards. " _Protego Maxima. Fianto Duri. Repello Inimicum."_

Just like on Tatooine, three puffs of light left the end of Remus's wand, rising up into the sky until they combined together as a dome like shield slowly lowered itself over the downed ship. The hunters that were outside the dome kept firing, only to have their shots stopped as they impacted the shield. The troopers and two Jedi both stared in awe at the shield for a moment before deactivating their lightsabers and lowering their weapons.

"You…created a shield using the Force." Master Shaak Ti stated as if she were trying to convince herself of it. "How?"

Before Remus could answer though, Quinlan stepped past them in a rush and had his lightsaber drawn and hovering dangerously close to the helmeted trooper's neck.

"Quinlan!"

"Master Vos!"

"They betrayed us! They slaughtered us like animals!" Quinlan shouted over the cries of both Shaak Ti and Obi-Wan. "And now they're helping you? I don't buy it!"

"Quinlan." Obi-Wan said calmly, putting a hand onto his fellow Jedi's shoulder. "If Rex or his men wanted to bring harm to Master Ti, or any of us for that matter, they would've done so already. Instead they've put their very lives at risk to defend one of us. Don't you at least think that that earns them the chance to be heard?"

Quinlan continued to glare at the trooper beneath his lightsaber for several long moments before deactivating his lightsaber. "It's on your head Kenobi."

The trooper let out a sigh of relief before reaching up and removing his helmet. "Thank you for that General Kenobi." The bald man said as he lowered his helmet. "And for what it's worth General Vos…I understand your concern sir. But believe me…if it'd been our choice none of my brothers would've betrayed our Jedi commanders."

low moan brought a quick end to the conversation as the young red horned woman doubled over with her hands over her stomach as she slid down the side of the ship. "Maris!" Shaak Ti cried out as she went over to the young woman with Remus only a step behind her.

As the two knelt down beside the girl, Remus reached out and gently pulled the girl's hands away slightly. She'd taken a blaster bolt to the gut. "Keep pressure on it and help her lay down flat on the ground." Remus instructed Shaak Ti as he let go of the girl's hand so he could begin rummaging through the many pouches on his belt.

Finding the small vial he was searching for Remus pulled out his wand before feeling a tap on his shoulder. "Here Master Jedi," the trooper, Rex, said holding a canteen out to him. "It's the last of our clean water."

"No need," he said turning towards Shaak Ti, who was watching him carefully. "Take her hands. This is going to hurt more than a little." Pointing his wand at the wound on the girl, Remus took an uneasy breath before muttering, " _Tergeo."_

The girl cried out and her back arched off the ground promoting the trooper and Shaak Ti to hold the girl down on the ground. He kept the spell up for only a few seconds before all of the burnt flesh and blood that had been around and within the wound were gone. Moving fast, Remus then unstoppered the bottle he'd pulled out and placed three drops of the essence of Dittany directly onto the wound. Both Shaak Ti and Rex stared in awe as the wound closed and the skin healed over leaving no trace of the wound that'd threatened the girl's life just moments before.

Reaching out a slightly shaking hand, Shaak Ti gently touched the newly formed skin and closed her eyes. "Her injuries are…gone. There isn't even an infection." She said opening her eyes. "How did you clean the wound so thoroughly and quickly? And what is that substance that you have?"

"That is a very long story Master Ti," Obi-Wan said, his own voice filled with awe as the young girl was helped up to a sitting position by Rex. "One that will unfortunately have to wait until we are in a safer location than this."

"That's not the only story that needs to be told," Quinlan growled before drawing his lightsaber and facing off against the shield. "But I agree that explanations will have to be put on hold. The hunters are about to breach the shield."

Looking over his shoulder, Remus spotted two bounty hunters that were just about to reach the outskirts of the shield. "There's nothing to worry about," Aela said, slinging her blaster over her shoulder. "That spell doesn't just create a shield."

As if to emphasize her point, right after she finished saying that one of the hunters stepped into the shield. The hunter managed to give off one agonized cry before his body completely disintegrated. The second hunter, after seeing the awful fate of his comrade, managed to stop himself just before he stepped into the barrier. Unfortunately for the second hunter though, his curiosity got the better of him and he reached out and physically touched the shield. And just like his fellow hunter, he managed to give off only a single cry before his body was disintegrated.

"Told you there was nothing to worry about." Aela smirked at the gob smacked, and frightened, expression on the Jedi and troopers. "As long as that shield stays up and we stay within its confines, nothing can touch us."

"Unfortunately the reverse is also true," Remus added as the other two troopers came down from atop the ship. "As long as this shield is up, we can't get out."

As the two new comers took off their helmets, Remus was briefly taken aback as he the two troopers looked identical, save for their haircuts, as the first. _'That's right. Clones.'_

"Who- who are you? How– how did you heal me?" The young woman who'd Remus had just saved was staring up at him with wide eyes, her hands resting on her stomach as if she were trying to assure herself that she was fine.

"Well, as we now have time let's have a quick round of introductions." Obi-Wan said pointing towards Remus and Aela. "This is Remus and Aela Lupin from…well let's just save that for later as I still haven't gotten the full story out of them yet. Remus, Aela. This is Master Shaak Ti and her apprentice…"

"Maris Brood, Master Kenobi." The young girl said before rising to her feet and then surprising everyone as she ran forward and gave Remus a tight hug. "Thank you…Master Lupin."

Awkwardly returning the girls hug, Remus turned to the three troopers. "I'm Captain Rex," the one with the blue trimmed armor announced, snapping to attention. "Captain in the 501st Legion of the– well former Grand Army of the Republic. This here is Commander Wolfe and Gregor respectively."

"Good, now that everyone's acquainted," Quinlan sighed shaking his head as he rejoined the group, "can we please work on how we're supposed to get off this rock? The bounty hunters have fallen back for now, but I doubt they'll leave us alone for long."

Nodding, Obi-Wan turned towards the troopers. "Rex. What's our position like here?"

Shaking his head, Rex pulled out a small disk and set it on the ground activating a holographic map of the planet. "Not good sir." He said zooming in on the general area of the planet they were on. "Our plan was to occupy an abandoned Separatist Outpost roughly twenty-five klicks south-east of our current position and then start looking for General Ti. Unfortunately, the bounty hunters beat us there and somehow managed to get the base's anti-air cannons operational and shot us down. We hardly even had time to get out of the ship before the bounty hunters started hitting us with everything they had. Most of their weapons are military grade from the Seppy base. It was only luck that we managed to crash in the same vicinity that General Ti and her Padawan were in, otherwise we would've been overrun well before you showed up sir."

"And what of the droids that were stationed at the base?" Obi-Wan asked, staring at the map. "Have the bounty hunters managed to reactivate any of them?"

"Thankfully no." Shaak Ti answered shaking her head before looking around. "Master Kenobi…where is your ship?"

"Right now? Stealthed and trying to find and destroy and anti-air cannons that the hunters might've gotten their hands on. Which reminds me," Quinlan explained before activating his communlink. "Asajj, how are things on your end?"

" _ **Manageable**_ **."** Asajj answered, and Remus couldn't help but notice the alarmed expression on the faces of the clones, Master Ti and Maris at the name. **"** _ **The bounty hunters managed to take over an old Separatist base south of your position and have activated most of the base's defenses. But whatever you're going to do, you better do it fast. Three of the smaller ships from orbit just entered the atmosphere and are heading in your direction."**_

"That's not all we got coming at us." One of the clones, Gregor, said as he stared off into the distance with a pair of macrobinoculars. "You know that whole thing we just said about the bounty hunters not being able to activate the droids right? Well…it looks like they still managed to activated their tanks. Three of them by the looks of it."

Spinning around, Remus gaped at the three large hovering monstrosities that were lumbering towards them. He'd seen muggle tanks back on Earth…but these things were in a league of their own. The three tanks lined up with one another before each opened fire on their shield. Raising his wand, Remus checked the shield as the shots slammed against the barrier had enough to echo throughout the area.

"Will the shield hold?" Obi-Wan asked as Remus lowered his wand.

"Yes," Remus nodded. Those tanks were hitting the shield with almost as much force as a shield penetration charm. "But not for long. Even less if those ships Asajj mentioned join in."

"So we better make sure that doesn't happen." Quinlan nodded as he activated his comm again just as the ships broke through the clouds in the distance. "Asajj. We need you to take out those ships before they can reach us or this will end really quickly."

Just as Remus was able to start making out individual markings on each approaching ship, the center most ship exploded in a burst of fire before colliding with the one that'd been flying off to its right sending both to ground. The last ship banked around quickly, but wasn't able to do anything as Ventress blew that one out of the sky.

" _ **Don't say I never did anything for you Kenobi."**_ Ventress's voice called out through the commlink. **"** _ **Unfortunately that little stunt caught the attention of the other ships in orbit. We got the last two small ones inbound and the two larger ones are starting their descent. As good as this ship is, even cloaked, we won't stand a chance against those two big ones once they're in the atmosphere."**_

Rubbing at his beard, Obi-Wan turned to Remus. "Can you bring us back aboard the ship just like how you brought us down?"

Shaking his head, Remus pointed towards the barrier. "That shield prevents apparition. And even if it didn't, it's too risky trying to apparate into a moving target. Especially one that can't be seen. And we can't portkey either because the interior of the ship isn't big enough. If we lose the shield, we're dead. If Ventress de-cloak's the ship, she's dead. Our best option is going to be entering the ship the old fashion way. Which means we need a safe spot for her to land."

"What about here?" Rex said suddenly, pointing to a small clearing on the map. "It's about twenty klicks north of here, well out of range of anything that base might have. There's plenty of cover between here and there as well so any ships passing overhead won't be able to get a clear line of sight shot. And it's thick enough so that the tanks won't be able to follow."

"It's better than any other option we've got." Obi-Wan nodded looking up at the tanks again. "Although those tanks are only part of the problem. The bounty hunters will still be able to follow us on foot."

"Leave that to us." Aela spoke up as she leaned in and whispered her plan into Remus's ear. As her plan unfolded, Remus couldn't help but grin at the idea. "You can do it, right?"

"It'll take me a few minutes to step up, but yes I should be able too provided you can take down the shield." Remus said stepping up to the ship. "Captain Rex, I really hope that you weren't too attached to this ship."

"Stole it from the Empire sir." Rex responded as Remus pulled out his wand and started carving an intricate pattern of the first of many runes that would soon be littering the side of the ship.

After finishing up the first rune, he noticed that he'd attracted quite the audience, most notably Obi-Wan, Shaak Ti and Maris. "What are you doing…how do we address you?" Shaak Ti asked.

Concentrating on what he was doing, he carved the last line of the second rune and moved onto the third. "Call me Remus, everyone else does. And I'm creating our distraction." Finishing the third he moved onto the fourth. "Captain Rex."

"Yes sir!"

"We're going to have about a twenty second window between the time when the shield goes down and our diversion takes effect. We're going to need you and your men to provide us with cover until then." Finishing off the fifth and last of the runes needed, he signaled for the four Jedi to join him next to the ship. "I'm going to need all of you to help with this next part."

"What do you need us to do?" Obi-Wan asked, clearly but confused as to what was going on but still curious.

"He needs us to charge the runes." Quinlan stated, stepping up to one of the runes and raising his hand towards it. "Let the Force flow through you and guide it into the carvings." As if to accent his point, the rune beneath his hand slowly started to glow.

Stepping up to the ship, Obi-Wan, Shaak Ti and Maris all lifted their hands and pressed them against a separate runic carving. Obi-Wan's and Shaak Ti's runes started to glow almost immediately with Maris's coming to life a few seconds later. Turning towards Aela, Remus nodded before raising his wand and pointing it towards the last rune. "Rex…get ready. Aela…lower the shield."

Raising her wand towards the sky, Aela sent off a powerful burst of light that shot up and impacted the interior of the shield. Starting from where her spell hit it, the shield started eroding towards the ground. The clones, seeing that the shield was failing, immediately took up positions behind the barricade with their weapons trained on the hunters. The hunters, obviously confused as to what was going on and not wanting to potentially damage their bounties, ceased firing. When the shield was nearly a quarter of the way gone, Remus activated the last of the runes on the ship.

Once all five of the runes were alight, the ship shuddered making the whole ground shake. For a brief moment the entire valley was devoid of all sound. And then the ship arched and groaned as it started to bend and change. The ship condensed inwards before elongating slightly as two protrusions grew outwards from its middle. By the time the shield had completely fallen, the ship was gone. And in its place was a fully formed, two-hundred meter long Hungarian Horntail dragon.

"Nobody move a muscle." Remus ground out from between clenched teeth as the newly created dragon's head rose up and began looking around its new terrain.

A minute later, the bounty hunters made the fatal mistake that he'd been counting on as one of the tanks raised its main gun and shot a round right into the dragon's neck. While Remus was a skilled practitioner at both runes and transfiguration, he was no prodigy. And because of that, the dragon was still mostly metallic instead of organic. And due to its mostly metallic skin, the shots from the tanks did absolutely nothing other than piss the dragon off. Which was exactly what Remus and Aela had been hoping to happen.

"Now we run!" Remus shouted as the dragon let out a blood curdling roar as it charged at the line of tanks.

The Jedi and the clones didn't need to be told once as all of them immediately started hightailing it towards the tree line north of them. "Quinlan!" Aela shouted as they ran. "We forgot to mention, but you should definitely tell Asajj to stay clear of the area for at least– Remus! How long will that thing last?"

"A half a day at least!" Remus shouted back as the group ducked and weaved their way through the trees as the sounds of fighting increased behind them.

"Asajj!" Quinlan yelled into his commlink. "Make sure you stay clear of the area for the next few hours."

 _ **"No shit Quinlan!"**_ Asajj's voice yelled back through the comm. _ **"You all could've at least told me that you were planning on creating a several hundred meter long monster! What the fuck is that thin– what the fuck? It's breathing fire now! What the fuck is that!"**_

"It's called a dragon." Remus answered as he kept pace with the others. While not the most physically fit of individuals, his wolf blood allowed him to keep stride easily with the more experienced Jedi and soldiers. "Pretty much the alpha predator on our home."

For nearly an hour the small group ran as fast as they could through the thick trees. By the time exhaustion had finally taken hold the roars of the dragon and the sounds of battle could only be heard if one strained their ears. Leaning up against the thick tree next to him, Remus took in large gasps of air as he tried his best to get his breathing under control. 'Okay…maybe not in as great as shape as I thought. Maybe I should be taking Aela up on those midnight runs of hers. Although last time I did that we didn't really get much 'running' in. Which…now that I say that…why the bloody hell do I keep turning those down?'

Across from him the three clones had all taken off their helmets and were bent over breathing heavily. Maris was in a similar state as well. The only ones who didn't seem too terribly affected by their hour long run were the three Jedi Masters and Aela. "Anyone got any water left?" One of the clones, Gregor, asked.

Remembering what Rex had said about them only have only canteen left, Remus pulled out his wand and transfigured part of the ground into a large stone basin. He then filled the basin with water using _aguamenti_.

The three Jedi who hadn't been around his magic before and the three clones all stared at the water filled basin in awe. Shaak Ti was the first to overcome her stupor, as the Torguta stepped forward and slowly cupped her hand in the water before bringing it up to her lips and taking a long drink.

"Amazing." Was all she said, and that was all that was needed before the three clones and Maris descended upon the water, cupping it with their hands and drinking it as fast as they were able to do so.

"How is such a thing possible?" Obi-Wan asked, clearly in awe, as he too took a drink from the pool.

"You just saw him create a fucking dragon, and you're asking how such a simple thing like this is possible?" Aela laughed as she rolled her shoulders. "Remus, I think the cooling charms wore off. Be a dear little wolf and hit me with another will you?"

Nodding, Remus pulled out his wand again and hit her with a cooling charm. Then seeing the state of the troopers, he turned his wand on them and in a flash had cast the charm on all three. Of course he should've predicted their reactions. These were trained soldiers. Sudden shifts made them…jumpy. And as soon as the cooling charms hit them, each of them were up and on their feet with their blasters ready and pointing southwards.

"Sorry about that gentlemen." Remus said, holding up his wand point skywards. "You three looked like you could use some cooling down."

Blinking, the three troopers lowered their weapons as they finally realized just what was going on. "Our thanks, Master Jedi." Rex nodded, his face less flushed then it was a moment ago. "But perhaps next time you could give us a moment's notice before doing something like that."

"Of course." Remus nodded as Shaak Ti tilted he eyes at the clones, her eyes narrowing in concentration.

"Each of them are…surrounded by the Force. How? And what does it do?"

"It's a charm, a pretty useful one considering where we're at." Remus explained as pointed his wand at each of the Jedi in turn and cast the charm on them. "It's called a cooling charm. And it…well it basically does what it sounds like. It charms your clothing to constantly give off a cooling essence to keep the body cool. There's also a warming charm which does the exact opposite. But I really don't think we'll need it in this humidity."

"Quite right you are, Master Lupin." Shaak Ti nodded as she seemed to enjoy the sudden cooling sensation on her skin. "But I fear that we have rested long enough. Captain Rex. Are you and your men ready to continue?"

Heading a slight buzzing in his ear, Remus nodded while rubbing at the back of his ear. He couldn't help but notice that Aela was doing the same. 'What is that noise? It's not natural. It almost sounds like-' "Everyone get down!"

His warning came just a second too late as three speeder bikes shot over their heads. Instantly, all of the Jedi had their lightsabers drawn and turned towards the new threat. But when they made a second pass, at speeds almost faster than Remus could keep track of, they didn't fire a single blaster shot. Instead they passed overhead and each fired off several…cables.

The Jedi Masters all managed to block the cables that were shot at them. But Maris was no Master and so while she managed to block the one that was aimed for her midsection, she completely missed the one that wrapped around her legs. Maris managed to give off a single cry of alarm before she was yanked roughly off her feet, her lightsaber falling from her hands as the three speeder bikes rocketed above the tree line with their prisoner dangling helplessly beneath them.

"Shit!" Quinlan cursed before lashing out with the Force and knocking down several large trees in the process.

"You're anger does us no good, Master Vos." Shaak Ti chastised the man. "But I can understand. We will need to go after Maris, as I will not leave her behind. Which was more than likely their end game in this gambit anyway."

"No you won't." Aela growled, making everyone turn towards her. Pulling out her own wand, she hit Remus with what he realized was a tracking charm. "Hit me with one as well. And then lead them on to the evacuation point. I'll catch up if we can. But if not, then come and get us."

"You cannot seriously be expecting to go at this alone?" Obi-Wan questioned.

"Maris is my Padawan. My responsibility." Shaak Ti declared. "I shall go as well."

"Us as well ma'am." Rex saluted, with the other two following suit.

"Stop being heroic idiots." Aela growled as she began dislodging pieces of her armor from her person, leaving her standing in only her tight black bodysuit with her wand holster under her right forearm. "I'm faster on my own. Plus, I won't have to worry about holding back with none of you present. Trust me on this. I'll find the girl and bring her back. Just get moving towards the pickup point and be ready to come and get us if need be."

"Are you sure about this Aela?" Remus asked. He knew that there was no talking her out of it, but he wanted to make sure she would be okay.

"Of course I am old wolf." Aela grinned before reaching out and pulling him in for a searing kiss. "Besides…I haven't had the chance to cut loose in a long time. Now all of you had better get going. Cause just the idea of it is making me more than a little…rowdy. And if you don't leave soon then I'm liable to be dragging Remus here into the bushes for a nice long shag."

Remus felt his entire face heat, and it had nothing to do with the heat of the planet. "Right," he coughed as he shrunk the many pieces of her armor before summoning them into a small bag. "Just be safe."

"Aren't I always?" Aela grinned before giving him a saucy wink. "See you soon." Stepping away from him, Aela then spun on her heel and disappeared with a slight crack.

"How did she do that?" Shaak Ti asked as she stared at the spot Aela had disappeared from.

"Is that the same from of travel that brought us down to the surface?" Obi-Wan asked almost at the same time. "Forgive me, Master Ti."

"It's called apparition." Remus answered as he apparated a short distance away so he was still in line of sight before apparating back. "Just about every magical, or Force sensitive, on our planet whose of age can perform it. And for those with even a small amount of skill, it is possible to take another with you. Those who are extremely skilled can take multiple people with them."

"What does it feel like? Master Jedi?" Gregor asked, seemingly genuinely curious.

"Like being sucked through a straw headfirst." Quinlan answered. "It's not painful. But it is disorienting and uncomfortable."

"Until you get used to it that is." Remus nodded, remembering how long it took him to get used to apparating. "Now let's get moving. Aela and I will be able to track each other."

"Are you sure that she'll be alright?" Shaak Ti asked once again.

"Trust me," Remus responded, hefting Aela's rifle up over his shoulder. "Right now, it's the bounty hunters that you ought to feel worried for."

* * *

Disillusioned and sitting up in a tree, Aela scanned over the high metal walls before her. It'd taken her longer than she cared to admit it; in fact the night had fallen at least an hour or so prior, but she'd finally managed to find the military base that the clones had talked about. _'Although calling it a 'base' is understating things. This place is a fortress.'_

The walls around the base were at least thirty to forty meters tall, each side at least a quarter mile long, and each had a sheer vertical face to them. So scaling them would be next to impossible. Not that she planned to anyway. But it wasn't the walls that prevented her from just charging in. No. It was the small army of bounty hunters that were walking along the wall. And on the four corners of the base were large mounted guns that looked more like cannons. 'More than likely those anti-air weapons that shot down the clones if the first place.' She mused.

The only upside she could see so far was the fact that each of the large cannons had been blown out of commission, more than likely thanks to Asajj. At least she hoped that they were out of commission otherwise this would be a really short rescue attempt. Raising her wand to her eyes, she used a focusing spell to allow her to get a better look at one of the corner guns. _'Two…we'll I guess we'll call them men. Looks like they're trying to repair the gun. And by the looks of it…that's the only one they're working on. Well…it's as good a place as any to start off.'_

Lowering her wand, she focused on the corner gun before turning in place and apparating up to the gun emplacement. One of the men, a strange lizard like creature, saw her as she appeared out of thin air. Thankfully, the creature so was stunned by her sudden appearance that he didn't even have time to shout before she fired off a severing charm right through his neck followed by a banishing charm which sent both the head and the body over the edge of the wall and into the woods.

"Resk! Hand me that blasted hydrospanner will you! We need to get this gun up and running before the boss lady gets here or it'll be our asses!"

The second man was still half under the gun emplacement so he hadn't noticed her arrival just yet. Picking up the tool, she tossed it towards the pair of feet. "Bout damn time Resk." The voice growled as a strange almost human like hand reached out and grabbed the tool. "Just about…there. Try activating the weapons console. Let's get this baby up and running."

Keeping quiet, Aela went over the console and did as the man…thing demanded. The console came to life the moment she touched it the targeting monitor activated. "Bout damn time," the voice growled, making Aela smirk. "Now let's get to the next– who are you!?"

Not giving the man a moment to collect himself, Aela hit him with a combination of a silencing charm, followed by a banishing hex and a sticking charm. In the time it took the creature to take two breaths, he was silenced and stuck against the side of the gun facing away from the interior of the base. "Now, this isn't how I normally go about things. Mainly because I'm really not all that good with this spell." She said as she leveled her wand at the creature's temple. "But unfortunately, I'm pressed for time. So, _legilimens!"_

She wasn't lying when she told the man that she wasn't the best Legilimens out there. Those who were actually skilled in the art could sneak into a mind, take what they wanted and leave without a trace. But one of her level…well the intrusion was quite painful, as was evident by the man's shaking and his mouth opened in a wordless scream. And it took her nearly a full three minutes to actually find the information that she needed.

"So this is the only operational anti-air gun you lot have at the moment." She nodded to herself as she ceased her spell. "That's good to know. But don't think that you're getting off the hook lightly monster. I saw what you did to those farmers just a short time ago. So…I think a little bit of suffering is due."

Pressing her wand against his chest, she unleashed a low-level boring charm. The spell out would slowly bore out a hole in the man's chest until it reached the other side.

Leaving the man to his fate, she once again disillusioned herself and walked over towards the rampart that overlooked the interior of the base. For the most part, the interior was devoid of everything save for a single starship, perhaps two dozen heavily armed bounty hunters and one cage that was in the dead center of the base with several spot lights trained on it.

 _'Hmm…dozens of guards, turrets, a starship, and a cage in the center of them all. Morgana's tits…the only way they could've been more obvious about this was if they painted the words 'This Is A Trap' in big bold letters above the cage._ '

 _ **"Razz check in. Razz! Get your lizard ass out from beneath that gun and check in already!"**_

Stepping back around the gun, Aela glanced up at the still suffering lizard man before snatching the commlink off of his wrist. "You don't mind if I borrow this do you? No? Thanks." Leaving the man once again, she walked over to the control console of the gun.

 _ **"Razz! Check in already damn it!"**_

Activating the commlink, Aela decided that if she was going to have some fun, she might as well go all in. "I'm sorry…but your friend is rather preoccupied at the moment. And his other friend…what was his name? Resk? Yes that's it. Well you can go and collect his head and body from the woods provided that the local wildlife hasn't already made off with them."

Looking down at the courtyard, she saw one of the hunter's head snap up to her position, not that he could see her of course, before running over and handing the commlink off to a mostly bald woman who had a bright plume of red hair atop her head. _**"Identify yourself Jedi."**_

"Now that wasn't very nice." Aela smirked as she watched several of the hunters taking aim at her position. "Demanding my name without introducing yourself first. Now inappropriate."

The woman stared down at the commlink for a moment before answering. _**"I am Aurra Sing."**_

When the woman didn't offer anything further, Aela sighed into the comm. "And is that supposed to mean something to me? Or is your name supposed to strike me with fear? From where I'm sitting…you look like nothing more than a punk with a really bad sense of hair styling."

 _ **"You're either incredibly stupid or you're just incredibly stupid. Far dumber than any Jedi that I've encountered…which means you are more than likely part of the group that Master Kenobi brought with him."**_ Pausing, Aela watched as the pale skinned woman drew her blaster and pointed it at the caged Maris. _ **"So I'll make this simple. You are no Jedi so we have no quarrel with you. Tell us where the Jedi are and how they are planning on attacking this base and I won't put a blaster bolt between little Zabrek's eyes."**_

Pressing a few buttons on the control panel, Aela activated the comm again. "I have a counter offer for you Aurra. You let the little one go out that front gate right now and vow that neither you nor any of your comrades will follow her…and I'll let you all go. Decide to keep her prisoner…and I will kill every one of you down there."

Down below all of the hunters froze up for a minute. Then like a rolling tidal wave they all started to laugh. _**"I like you, whoever you are."**_ Aurra laughed into the comm. _ **"It's almost too bad that we'll have to kill you."**_

"Oh, don't worry. You won't be killing me. Oh…there is probably one more thing I should've mentioned." Pressing the last command on the panel, Aela quickly apparated over to the opposite corner of the base. "Your friends managed to repair that cannon before I killed them."

The hunters in the yard below started to scramble, but it was far too late as the cannon turned and fired into the courtyard, destroying the ship. The cannon then turned and started firing randomly at hunters that'd been scattered along the top of the base's walls. It actually managed to completely clear off two of the walls before the hunters focused all of their fire upon it and destroyed the emplacement.

"Well then," Aela grinned as she tossed the commlink off to the side and rolled her shoulders. "Guess it's finally time for me to cut loose then."

* * *

Sitting in her cage, Maris pulled desperately at the collar around her neck that was keeping her from accessing the Force. It wasn't necessarily so much that it was keeping her from accessing it. It was just anytime she tried to do something she received an awful shock from the collar. Not that she needed to be doing anything to receive said shock though.

"Hey! Knock that off!" One of the bounty hunters yelled as the collar activated again, making her scream in pain.

"Don't damage her permanently." One of the other hunters called out casually as the shocks subsided. "The Empire won't pay in full if she'd permanently damaged."

Craning her neck, Maris tried to get a glimpse at her captors, but received only another shock as a result. "What did I say about looking around Jedi scum!" The bounty hunter who'd been guarding her shouted as she felt the barrel of a blaster pressed against the top of her head. "I swear to the gods if you so much as lift you head I'll-"

A single blaster bolt echoed throughout the encampment, and the guard who'd been watching over her and tormenting her stiffened before falling over onto the ground. A small blaster burn still smoking on the side of his head. "I hope that that puts an end to such foolishness." A calm voice called out. "We need this one alive and intact. At least for now."

Maris cringed as she heard the silky smooth voice. Her and her Master, her first Master, had been separated from the rest of the Order during the Clone Wars so she did not have a history, so to speak, with some of the major figures in the war. But that didn't mean she didn't know who they were. And the voice that was floating through the camp was definitely recognizable.

Hearing the bounty hunter crouch down next to her cage, Maris risked a glance from under her long untamed hair almost begging for her to be wrong. But she wasn't. And kneeling right outside of her cage with a sickening smile on her face was none other than the infamous bounty hunter Aurra Sing.

"Do you know who I am little Jedi?" Sing asked her.

Nodding her head, it was all Maris could do to keep eye contact with the woman. "Yes. You're Aurra Sing, the bounty hunter."

"That's right," Sing chuckled, standing upright. "And what's your name?"

"Maris Brood."

"Maris Brood." Sing repeated as if testing out her name. "Funny. I don't recognize you or your name. You must've not spent much time with the rest of your Order during the war. You must be quite the pathetic Jedi for your order to have held you back from fighting."

That stung far more than Maris would've like to admit. Her Master had kept them both aboard the Gray Pilgrim and deep in the Outer Rim throughout the duration of the Clone Wars. She'd begged her Master on more than one occasion to allow them both to enter the war, but her Master had always refused her, preferring instead to help the Outer Rim colonies. After sensing the death of so many of their fellow Jedi, her Master had left her to go out in search for answers. The next time she heard from him, he told her to run and hide.

"Why aren't we just loading her up onto the ship now Sing?" One of the bounty hunters asked, kicking her cage. "We came for a Jedi and we got one. Why not cash out now while we're ahead?"

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" Sing laughed. "Now, let me explain this all to you nice and slowly. This girl is nothing. A mere padawan. And not even a well-known padawan at that. What do you think we could get for her if we turned her into the Empire? A few hundred thousand creds at best. We've banded together seven outfits for this job. A few hundred-thousand would barely cover the initial costs of this job. But her Master…her Master is none other than Jedi Council Member Master Shaak Ti, who currently has a bounty of five million creds.

"And if that isn't incentive enough for you, did you fail to notice who it was that came to rescue the two of them? The Negotiator himself, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. And his bounty is over ten million creds. So, we can either cash this little girl in now and get a small reward. Or we can use her as bait and draw in two Jedi council Members, the bounty on whom is enough to ensure that none of us will have to work for years."

"But how do you know that these Masters will come?" The same bounty hunter asked again. "How do you know they won't simply cut their losses and run?"

"You really don't know anything about Jedi, do you idiot?" Sing asked rhetorically, and despite her situation…Maris actually agreed with Sing. The man was an idiot. "The Jedi will go to almost suicidal lengths to save their comrades. All that we need to do is simply wait. And they will come to us."

"And what if they bring that…creature with them?" One of the hunters asked fearfully, which made Maris smirk.

"That was nothing more than a Jedi mind trick you fool." Sing snarled walking away. "Nothing more. Now all of you get in position. I want regular radio checks every ten minutes."

Curling into a ball within her small cage, Maris closed her eyes and tried to meditate. But it was useless. No matter what she did she just couldn't concentrate enough to even enter the slightest of meditations. "Razz check in. Razz! Get your lizard ass out from beneath that gun and check in already!"

Turning her head slightly, she watched as one of the hunters slapped at his commlink before trying it again. "Razz! Check in already damn it!"

 _ **"I'm sorry, but your friend is rather preoccupied at the moment. And his other friend…what was his name? Resk? Yes, that's it…well you can go and collect his head and body from the woods provided that the local wildlife hasn't already made off with them."**_

Maris's head shot up at the voice that came through the commlink. She recognized it, even though she'd only just met the owner a few hours prior. _'If she's here…then my Master must be nearby as well! But then…why can't I sense her presence anywhere nearby?'_

"Give me that you idiot." Aurra Sing snapped, snatching the commlink from the confused hunter. "Identify yourself Jedi."

 _ **"Now that wasn't very nice. Demanding my name without introducing yourself first. Now inappropriate."**_

Both Sing and Maris both gapped at the commlink. To her knowledge, no one dared mock Aurra Sing. "I am Aurra Sing."

 _ **"And is that supposed to mean something to me? Or is your name supposed to strike me with fear? From where I'm sitting…you look like nothing more than a punk with a really bad sense of hair styling."**_

Next to her cage, one of the hunters laughed slightly before quickly trying to cover it in a coughing fit. The look in Sing's eyes however told the man that he had not managed to escape her notice. "…You're either incredibly stupid or you're just incredibly stupid. Far dumber than any Jedi that I've encountered…which means you are more than likely part of the group that Master Kenobi brought with him." Maris stiffened as Sing drew her blaster and pointed it right at her head. "So I'll make this simple. You are no Jedi so we have no quarrel with you. Tell us where the Jedi are and how they are planning on attacking this base and I won't put a blaster bolt in-between little Zabrek's eyes."

 _ **"I have a counter offer for you Aurra. You let the little one go out that front gate right now and vow that neither you nor any of your comrades will follow her…and I'll let you all go. Decide to keep her prisoner…and I will kill every one of you down there."**_

All around her, the bounty hunters started to laugh out loud, even Sing seemed to crack a smile for a second. "I like you, whoever you are." Aurra laughed into the comm. "It's almost too bad that we'll have to kill you."

 _ **"Oh, don't worry. You won't be killing me. Oh…there is probably one more thing I should've mentioned. Your friends managed to repair that cannon before I killed them."**_

"Shit!" Aurra shouted, her eyes darting up to the corner cannon which had begun swiveling around. "Everyone take cover!"

Maris barely had time to comprehend what was going on before the only shuttle in the base exploded in ball of fire. Then there was nothing but pandemonium as the base exploded in a barrage of yelling and blaster fire as the hunters all trained their weapons onto the mounted gun. The fight lasted for only a few scant seconds before a second explosion rocked her and all of the hunters ceased firing. "Get some men up there!" Sing shouted at no one in particular. "I want to know that bitch is dead! And get some more men on the walls! The Jedi will be here soon!"

Trying her best to look behind her, Maris felt her stomach drop as she gazed at the destroyed emplacement. _'I– I didn't even know her…and she gave her life for me…'_

"Screw this Sing!" One of the hunters yelled, marching up to her cage and putting a blaster through the bars. "You promised us an easy run. Well I'm done! The bounty on a dead Jedi Padawan is almost the same as the bounty on a live one! I'm taking this little bitch with me now before those Jedi com-"

The hunter's head snapped back as Sing quickly drew her blaster and put a single round right between the man's eyes. "Look at it this way boys." Sing laughed. "Fewer men…fewer cuts! Now get your asses moving before those Jedi get here or I will– what the fuck is that noise?"

Maris didn't need to strain her ears to figure out what Sing was talking about. In fact, she doubted that anyone within a klick or two of the base could hear what they were hearing. A loud almost…howling noise like from some sort of canine beast was echoing from all around the base making it impossible to place where it was coming from. The howling grew and grew until the point where Maris was forced to try and cover her ears to block out the sound when it…stopped. And then there was nothing but silence.

"Check the perimeter!" Sing shouted into the silence. "The blasted Jedi must've turned the wildlife against us! Someone get their ass over to-"

A high pitched cry of agony swept through the area before ending just as abruptly as it came. Then something landed right next to Sing and her small band of hunters. It was one of the hunters that'd been up on the wall. Using her foot, Sing flipped the man over, and it was all Maris could do to not lose what little was left in her stomach. The man looked like…like he'd been mauled by a beast of some kind.

More screams quickly followed as the hunters began scrambling while trying to take aim at something that was…running along the walls. "What is that thing?" One of the hunters cried out.

"Who cares?" Another shouted back as he leveled his rifle at…whatever it was. "Just keep firing and– ah!"

A blur of…yellow almost white passed over her cage, snarling as it ran headlong into the hunter who'd just been yelling and carrying him off somewhere.

 _'What kind of beast is that?'_ Maris wondered as the beast moved to fast for even her eyes to follow as it tore, literally, through the ranks of the bounty hunters. _'I've never even heard a beast that moves almost faster than the eye can follow.'_

Within minutes the battle, if it could even be called that, was over. And the only hunter left standing was a bleeding Aurra Sing who was holding onto her shoulder that'd been ripped open by the beast's claws with one hand while her other held her blaster out before her. Spinning around in a tight circle, Maris almost gapped at the expression on Sing's face. She was scared. No…terrified.

"Where are you?!" Sing shouted into the empty base, only to receive no reply in return. "Come out now!"

The mass of white and yellow landed behind Sing who, despite her obvious terror, pivoted on her heel and brought her blaster around. The creature simply swatted at Sing's hand, its claws cleaving the blaster in two before one the claw lashed out and grabbed Sing by the throat and picked her up off the ground.

Now that the beast was standing still, Maris could finally get a good look at it. It was tall, at least one and half times taller than even Master Ti. It was also covered in hair from its head to its toes. It was definitely a canine species of some sort. But…she had no idea what to even call this creature. Sing, in a last ditch effort, pulled a knife out of her boot and made to stab the beast in the neck. But the beast caught her arm mid swing and twisted, snapping the bones in Sing's arm as if they were nothing more than a twig.

"What…are…you…creature…?" Sing managed to get, despite the hold the beast had on her throat.

With a growl the beast's arm jerked once, snapping Sing's neck as easily as it broke her arm before tossing the now dead bounty hunter off to the side as if she were nothing more than a piece of trash.

It was only as Sing's body hit the ground that Maris finally realized the situation that she was in. She was locked in a cage. With a creature that just tore through nearly two dozen bounty hunters without taking a scratch. And she didn't have her lightsaber or access to the Force. Well…she did now that no one was around to hold the controls to her collar. 'Please…please don't notice me nice little beast.'

Her pleas went unheard as the beast turned its head towards her and lumbered over to her cage. "Oh…shit." She whispered as the beast bent over, making it so that the two of them were eye to eye. "Calm down Maris…it hasn't attacked you. Yet. Just…clear your mind. Remember what Master Ti taught you when dealing with dangerous animals. Calm yourself. Reach out through the Force and make a connection."

Reaching out with the Force she tried to make a connection with the beast, and was thrown back both literally and figuratively as the strange creature threw her out of its mind. While she was still reeling from the repulsion, the creature leaned back on its haunches and… _'Is that creature…laughing at me? No. It can't be. But…but that's the only way I can describe that noise its making.'_

"Hey!" She shouted, not caring about how ridiculous she looked yelling at a…well whatever it was. "Stop laughing at me! This isn't funny you know!"

What happened next was completely beyond Maris but the creature before her started to…shift. Change. The creature started to whimper as its hair started to retract into its body, even as said body began to shrink down to a more normal size. Its face completely changed as the snot pulled back to form a more human like face. Within less than a minute the process was done. And where there was once a hulking creature sitting before her…now there was only Aela. A very naked Aela.

"Well hey there Maris." Aela smirked as if what had just happened was the most natural thing in the world. "What's a pretty little thing like you doing in a place like this?"

It was all too much for Maris. Without warning her brain shut down as her eyes rolled up into the back of her head as darkness claimed her.

* * *

Sitting in the tent within the _Howling Wind,_ Aela was staring down at her hand as she experimentally opened and closed her fist. Leaving Earth had proven to be quite the blessing to both herself and Remus, as once they were outside of Earth's atmosphere the moon no longer held her sway over their curse. They both could transform at will. And even better, once they transformed they retained their minds. She had no doubt that once they returned to Earth and let the packs know about this, they would be lining up in droves to leave Earth.

But despite all of the benefits leaving Earth given them, there was still one not so minor setback. The pain of the transformation was still there. In fact, seeing as how they retained their minds perfectly, even more so than when using the Wolfsbane potion, the pain was actually worse because the mind knew exactly what was happening to the body.

"Does it hurt?"

Turning her head, Aela nodded at Asajj before motioning for her to take the seat next to her. After her rescue of Maris, the others had demanded to know what she'd done. So, figuring that showing was better than just telling, Aela had transformed in the middle of the small galley. The look on just about everyone's faces, including Asajj and Quinlan who'd at least known that they could transform, was fairly priceless. The only ones who seemed to be completely at ease with them was, amazingly enough, Shaak Ti. Thankfully enough no even fainted this time.

After she changed back, Remus then spent the next hour or more telling everyone about lycanthropy and all of its sordid history and how Nox believed that the curse was a variation of the Rakghoul plague. The one aspect that he had to stress more than any other was the fact that despite their savage appearance, both of them were completely in control of their actions when they transformed. At least while they were away from Earth that was.

"Extremely." She answered as the former Sith took her seat. "The transformation actually hurts worse now than it did back on Earth. And I've done it twice now in less than twenty-four hours."

"Why?" Asajj asked, not necessarily pressing but clearly curious.

"Because back on Earth the curse is in full effect, and part of the effect is becoming a beast in both mind and body." She answered before reaching over and picking up the bottle of firewhiskey and taking a pull directly from the bottle. "I didn't realize how much of a blessing that was actually. The pain on Earth is muted because the mind is busy transforming as well and can't necessarily process what is happening to the body. But out here? We retain our mind so nothing is muted. Imagine feeling your bones breaking, elongating and healing over. Imagine how it feels to have your internal organs reorganize themselves. Imagine how it feels for your skin to be stretched over your new body. Imagine feeling all of that at once for nearly twenty agonizing seconds. The only upside is that the transformation from man to beast and vice versa is significantly faster."

"That sounds…incredibly unpleasant." Asajj nodded as she took the bottle from Aela so she could take a pull as well. "How did you become one of these…what did you call them? Wearwolfs?"

"Werewolves." Aela corrected. "And well…I didn't become one by choice. No one in the right mind would become one by choice. We're the outcast of one society and a myth in the other. We're hated and despised by just about everyone except for those like us. As for how I became one…well let's just say that if I'm ever to tell you that particular tale…then we're going to need more firewhiskey than this."

Hearing a low cry, Aela immediately got to her feet, ignoring the cries of protest from her joints, and made her way towards the small crib in the room of she shared with Remus. "Easy there little guy," she cooed, picking Luke up from his crib. Luke fussed in her arms for a moment before reaching out with his hand at her.

Grabbing the bottle off the dresser, she put the tip in Luke's mouth and the child instantly quieted as he started to drain the contents. "You seem to be a natural at that," Asajj remarked as she came back into the common area. "Do you and Remus have kids of your own?"

"No." Aela said shaking her head as she took her seat once more with Luke in her arms. "Having children for werewolves is…dangerous and hard. The curse or virus or whatever you want to call it, that made us what we are greatly reduces our ability to procreate. With a non-werewolf it is possible to have a kid. But you also run the chance of the child inheriting the curse. But it is almost impossible for two werewolves to have a child together. And if they did, then the child would be born a werewolf. And trust me…this curse is not something you want to see if a child. Kids have been known to die due to the transformation. Although there used to be a werewolf, who had an unhealthy habit of spreading the curse to children. Thankfully Nox put an end to that."

An awkward silence fell over the two of them after that as neither woman necessarily knew how to move on from that bright piece of knowledge. Mercifully, their awkwardness was cut short as the tent flap rustled as Shaak Ti and her apprentice Maris entered. And where mone awkwardness ended, another one began as Asajj and Shaak Ti both kept shooting untrusting glances at one another. Apparently the two had not shared the most pleasant of pasts. Which was understandable considering they'd been fighting on opposite sides of the last war.

"Aela…Ventress." Shaak Ti greeted the two of them with a bow of her head before moving towards the kitchenette area of the tent.

While the ship did have galley, it was hardly equipped to feed two people let alone nearly a dozen. And as the other tent lacked a kitchen area, the tent that was being used by Remus, herself, Asajj and Quinlan had been converted into a galley as well. The four remained completely silent as Master and Apprentice made their way into the kitchen area where each grabbed a tray and filled it with a small amount of food before coming back and around and sitting down near to the two of them. Aela couldn't help but notice that Maris had purposefully put Shaak Ti between the two of them when they sat down.

"You know, I'm not going to bite you." Aela smirked, making the young girl jump slightly. "I only bite people for two reasons. One, you're my enemy. Or two, you're Remus and I'm feeling rowdy. And seeing as how you're neither of those two, you have nothing to worry about."

Maris flushed slightly as she averted her eyes and focused on her food. "Must you always talk so brashly, Master Aela?" Shaak Ti asked.

"Yup. It's fun rattling the cages of people who are too uptight. Merlin knows it took me awhile to get through to Remus. I swear that man was more uptight about sex than a damn Yank." Aela smirked at the Master. "And knock it off with that whole 'Master' bit. I'm not a Jedi, or a Sith. Or whatever you want to refer to yourselves as. I'm Aela; nothing more and nothing less."

"As you wish, Aela." Shaak Ti responded, taking another bite of her small meal before nodding to the child in her arms. "The child…it is Anakin Skywalker's, is he not?"

"He is." Aela nodded, taking the bottle away from the little guy as he'd fallen asleep with it still in his mouth.

"So…Kenobi told you all then." Asajj commented. There was no mockery in her voice like Aela half expected there to be. Instead…she spoke as if it were a simple fact and nothing more.

"Yes, he did." Shaak Ti nodded, placing her meal off to the side. "Rex is…not taking it well. He was assigned to Master Skywalker quite frequently during the Clone Wars and grew to respect him immensely. It is such a shame. One of the greatest among the Jedi has fallen to the Dark side and is now beyond our reach."

"Be careful how you word that." Aela growled. "Nox, while no longer a big bad Sith is definitely not 'Light' either. But she is still a better person than any follower of the light that I've had the unfortunate pleasure of running into. And just so you know, I'm considered a big bad 'dark' creature as well. So be you best watch your words. Dark, does not mean evil."

Shaak Ti stared at her for a moment expressionlessly before nodding. "If I offended, then I apologize. It was not my intent."

"Good," Aela said in a slightly calmer voice. "Just watch yourself with that kind of talk. I might not know everything there is to know about you Jedi and the Sith. And honestly I don't judge people on their titles. I judge people on who they are. Not what they are. You best remember that. Course Remus would argue that one should be judged by their choices."

"Of course." Shaak Ti nodded once again, seemingly lost in thought.

"You're…you're quite defensive of this S– umm…this Nox." Maris stumbled over herself. "Um, not that that's a bad thing of course! I'm um…just wondering…"

"What she did to earn my respect?" Aela asked, to which Maris nodded slowly. "It's not just my respect she's earned. I don't think there's a single werewolf on Earth that wouldn't lay down their lives for her if she asked us to do so."

"Why?" Asajj asked curiously.

"It has to do with how she 'recruited' the werewolf tribes." Aela explained as she gently rocked Luke. "Before she came, we were considered to be the outcasts of society. Dark creatures that were unfit to even be seen in public or to even associate with. Merlin's balls, there were even some organizations over the years that formed with the sole purpose of killing us. Not trying to cure us. But to kill us because of something we had no control over. But then everything changed when Nox came around."

"What did she do?" Shaak Ti asked, seemingly genuinely interested.

"She got Remus to call together a meeting of the different packs in Britain." Aela explained, thinking back to when just before Nox took over. "There were three pack leaders at the time. Myself, some arsewipe I don't even remember and Fenrir Greyback. Our former alpha…and one of the biggest bastards you'd ever meet. He alone nearly brought the werewolf hunts back thanks to his actions. Moving past that, Nox basically played him like a fiddle. Challenged him at a time when he would be at his physical peak and at a time when he still retained enough of his mind to use magic. She even let him name the terms to the duel. He agreed, they fought…and Nox completely destroyed him."

"So Nox killed your former leader, and that is why you follow her." Shaak Ti stated, rather than asked.

"No." Aela said, shaking her head. "I said that she destroyed him. She didn't kill him. Instead she let Remus have that honor."

"Honor?" Maris questioned.

"Of killing that bastard. And trust me, there was a long line of people queued up to end him." Aela responded dismissively. "But for Remus…it was more personal. When Remus was young, his father said some rather unflattering things about werewolves in general. Fenrir took offense. And in retaliation turned Remus, who was still just a child, into a werewolf. So being able to kill the man that destroyed so many lives including his own…it was vengeance and justice in one go. And trust me, Fenrir destroyed a lot of lives. Especially children's."

Pausing, Aela brought Luke back to his crib and laid him down before returning to the others so she could continue. "After Fenrir died, the second alpha tried to charge Remus. And Remus ended up killing him in one pass. After that, leadership fell to me. And I submitted to Nox and Remus. And frankly, it was the best decision I've ever made. Nox brought all of us together and gave us jobs at her factory and even had a small town built for us. And before you say something, don't." Aela added, seeing the wheels in Shaak Ti's head turning. "We knew that she was using us. And in turn we were using her. She might still be using us, but frankly we don't care. And that's because she gave us something that all of us have longed for but forever been denied."

"And what's that?" Maris asked, genuinely interested.

"A chance at a normal life. Something that no one else would give us. And because of that, all of us will follow her to hell and back without blinking an eye." Turning towards Shaak Ti, she held up a hand forestalling whatever the Jedi Master had been about to say. "Now I can see that my story didn't necessarily impress you. I'm sure you consider the whole tale barbaric or uncivilized and frankly, I don't give a damn. Where we're going, you need to drop these preconceived Jedi notions that you all seem to have. Kento, Mallie, Ahsoka…bloody hell even the other two Aayla and Yoda have managed to let go and embrace some of our ways and teachings according to Nox the last time we talked. But if any of you don't think you can handle it, then let us know right now and we'll drop you off somewhere and leave you to the tender mercies of this 'Empire'."

She was probably being too hard on the duo, but frankly, she didn't give a shit. Aela was sore and tired, both physically and magically. And she didn't feel like beating around the bush with these two. Amazingly enough though, Shaak Ti merely nodded her head. "We will adjust Ma– Aela. As Master Yoda has said before, we must follow and trust the Force. And if this is where the Force has led us, then so be it."

"And um…well speaking of that…can you maybe teach us some of what you guys did yesterday?" Maris asked, her voice picking up like a runaway dragon as she spoke. "I mean, if you want to that is. Not that I'm pressing or anything. But it would be nice to learn how you created that shield, or how you did that whole thing where you transformed the ship into that creature! That was amazing! How did you do that anyway? Wait…where's Remus? He's the one who-"

"Padawan." Shaak Ti said firmly but with little heat in her voice. "Calm yourself young one."

Ducking her head, Maris muttered a soft, "Sorry." Before once again turning and not meeting Aela's eyes.

Laughing, Aela could only shake her head. "Well will be teaching you all some of what we know." That perked up Maris, and even Shaak Ti seemed interested. "Or rather Remus will be. He's the actual teacher between the two of us. Unfortunately though, your true education will have to wait until we're back on Earth."

"Why?" Shaak Ti asked.

Pulling out her wand, Aela twirled it around her fingers for a moment before tossing it over to Shaak Ti. "That's why," she said as the Master inspected her wand carefully. "Magic and the Force, when you get right down to it, are the same thing. But where they differ is in their application and how one channels magic, or the Force. In the case of witches and wizards, we use foci like wands or staffs, or hell even swords on occasion, to help manipulate magic into what we want. Some of the really powerful among us can do this without foci, but that takes decades, maybe even a century of intensive study."

Running her fingers along the length of the wood, Shaak Ti's eyes narrowed in concentration. "I can sense the Force within this…but it feels like this stick…wand…is rejecting my presence."

"That's not surprising." Asajj answered as Shaak Ti handed the wand back to Aela. "Apparently these wands of theirs are rather...peculiar. They're not sentient, but they choose who they want to have wield them. And since we can't do what they can without them at the moment…there's not much they can teach us."

"There's always magical theory." Aela countered before smirking. "And besides, Yoda managed to do quite a fair number of spells without a wand after seeing them performed only once or twice. Are you telling me that you're not as good as a Jedi Asajj?"

Laughing at the glare Asajj was sending her way, Aela got up from her seat, cracking several joints in the process, before turning towards the room she shared with Remus. "But that will be for another day. After all…we've got a long journey ahead of us. But right now I'm too tired and sore to even think straight. So…wake me only if the ship is about to crash."

* * *

Sitting at the Gryffindor table, Harry watched the doors to the Great Hall with the rest of the student body as they all waited for their guests to arrive. Or rather, come into the school that is. They'd already arrived a few hours prior, the contingent from Beauxbatons had arrived in a large carriage that was being pulled by nearly a dozen winged horses while the contingent from Durmstrang arrived in an old worn down ship that surfaced in the middle of the lake like a submarine. But even though the other two schools had been on the premises for a few hours, they'd yet to leave their modes of transportation.

The Great Hall had been decorated extensively in preparation for the feast. The house banners hung at both the front and back of the hall while just behind the Headmaster was a large Hogwarts banner. All of the students had cleaned up as well. He still remembered McGonagall making one of her rare appearances in the Gryffindor common room the other night saying that all of them had better be on their best behavior. Although her gaze did linger on the Weasley twins longer than anyone else in the room.

The head table had also been expanded to fit four more seats. Two of which had already been taken. Both of whom Harry recognized from the Quidditch World Cup although for two very different reasons. The first was Ludo Bagman and the other was Barty Crouch, the same man who wanted to arrest Harry, Ginny and Ahsoka after the attack on the camp.

While he was sitting and waiting, Harry reached into his robe and lightly touched the letter from Ahsoka that was within the inner pockets of his robes. He already knew its contents, which wasn't a surprise considering that he'd read it at least five times since he received it three days ago. The two had struck up a correspondence ever since he'd left for school. They would talk through their mirrors at least once a week and they would write to one another at least once a week as well. Luckily, Hedwig actually seemed to enjoy the flight between the temple and Hogwarts, despite the fact that Harry was still unsure as to the exact distance between the two.

In the latest letter she told him that Remus would be returning by Halloween, and that he would be bringing with him two Jedi Masters, members of the Jedi Council no less, one Jedi Padawan and Luke Skywalker. That wasn't all that she had to say. Apparently, and he wasn't quite sure just why she'd done this, but Ahsoka had asked his mother to train her as if she were a Sith Apprentice. And while Harry could understand why she'd done it, after all he'd gone through the training as well, he still shuddered at the memories. Sith training was not for the faint of heart. And while he knew that Ahsoka was strong, she'd fought in a galactic wide civil war for at least two years, the thought of her having to endure that type of training still made him uneasy.

And speaking of training, Harry still wasn't sure just how he and his little group of Guardians were still going to continue on with their own training. With the Master-Apprentice relationship more formalized within their group, time in the Room of Requirement had been divided up based on Master-Apprentice pairings so they could have more one-on-one training sessions.

For those who had their Masters here at school it was easy enough, for those whose Masters were at the Temple however it was not so easily. That was of course until his mother had sent him a parcel that had a highly enchanted mirror within. When they'd first activated it, they'd been amazed. Somehow, his mother had managed to enchant a regular communication mirror into holocom. And it wasn't just limited to the one holding it. Anything within a twenty-foot radius of the mirror was represented in the opposite mirror.

The mirror allowed Astoria, Hannah, Tracey and Ron to have some one on one instruction with their respective Masters. On the weekends they would forgo individual training and have a group session. But now with so many students coming in for the rest of the year, several unused classrooms were being emptied out for so that they could be used. While that normally wouldn't have been a problem, it became one when most of the classrooms that were being prepped were on the seventh floor of the castle.

"Merlin, how much longer are they going to make us wait?" Ron grumbled across the table from Harry.

"It's called 'showmanship' Ronald." Hermione commented as she flipped another page in the book she was reading next to him. "Despite Dumbledore's whole speech about creating camaraderie between schools, this is still a competition. The other schools are going to try and intimidate us and each other and are probably setting up some grand entrance to do just that."

"Right," Ron nodded. "I knew that."

"Sure you did Ron." Ginny grinned as the doors began to open on their own. "Well…let the show begin."

The doors were still opening when the first of the Beauxbatons students sprung into the hall. Literally sprung. Flipping head over heels and cartwheeling down the middle section while using their magic to aid their acrobatics. It was almost like a carnival. Once the acrobats were halfway down the hall, the next wave of students from Beauxbatons came. They were all dressed immaculately in blue and grey silk robes. And coming in just behind the students was without a doubt the largest woman Harry had ever seen. She had to be at least part giant because she easily matched Hagrid in terms of height.

As the students passed them by, Harry's attention was drawn to one of the girls as she passed. It wasn't so much the fact that she was pretty, which she was, beautiful in fact, but rather it was the more than slight pressure he felt against his mental barriers as she passed that drew his attention.

She was a Veela. Or at least part-Veela in any case. And if the pressure against his barriers wasn't a dead giveaway, the way all the boys in the school automatically started drooling after her as she passed them by was. "Now that's just not fair." Ginny grumbled. "Using a Veela to distract everyone."

"I don't think that was their intent Ginny," Hermione corrected her. "She's more than likely a half-Veela. And according to everything that I've read, they have trouble controlling their allure until they reach their age of maturity. Which for a Veela is eighteen, not seventeen like it is in the wizarding world. She probably can't help it."

"At least Ron isn't drooling this time around," Ginny smirked, making her brother flush.

Ron didn't have the chance to retort, because right behind the Beauxbatons students came the contingent from Durmstrang. The best way to describe them was that they were the polar opposite of the Beauxbatons. They marched in unison, side by side almost like they were in a military marching formation. But despite their gruff and somewhat intimidating entrance, it was the last two to enter that immediately commanded everyone's attention. Or rather, one of the two that entered.

"Blimey!" Ron hissed, "That's Viktor Krum! What's he doing here?"

"Obviously he plans on competing." Harry shrugged as he watched the Quidditch legend walk by. Harry knew that the man was young to be playing professional Quidditch, but to still be in school?

Once the entrance of the two schools was complete, the individual students broke up and made their way towards empty spots at the House tables in the Great Hall. More than a few girls and boys were clamoring to try and get Krum to sit next to them, but he ignored them all before walking towards the back of the hall and sitting down at the Slytherin table where he promptly ignored everyone around him. He wasn't the only one to be receiving attention either, just about every other boy, and even some of the girls, in the school were trying their best to get the French beauty and half-Veela to sit with them as well. But just like Krum, she ignored everyone before finding an empty spot at the Ravenclaw table and taking a seat.

Rising from his spot at the head table, Dumbledore coughed loudly while spreading his arms. "Students of the wonderful academies of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, I welcome to Hogwarts!" He announced joyfully, causing a polite round of applause to spread throughout the hall. "It is my hope that while you all will enjoy your stay with us for the rest of the year as we come together for the first Triwizard Tournament to be held in many, many years! Classrooms have been prepared for all of you so that you may complete your studies and should you have any questions, our wonderful staff here at Hogwarts will be more than happy to help you with whatever you need. Now then…before we feast let us proceed onto the very reason why you are all here!"

With a single clap of his hands, a large stone pedestal appeared on the dais before the professors and headmasters. Atop of the pedestal was a large gold and jewel encrusted goblet that was perhaps a foot tall and a hands length or so across at the top and the sides of the goblet were as clear as glass.

"This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Goblet of Fire!" Dumbledore announced before clapping again. This time a spark appeared just above the goblet before it expanded into a billowing flame before settling down slightly so that blue flames could just barely be seen over the rim of the goblet. "Starting now and until our Halloween feast tomorrow the goblet will be lit. Should you wish to participate in the tournament, you need only to write your name down on a piece of parchment and toss it into the fire. Tomorrow the goblet will choose one champion from each school to participate.

"Now, I must caution you all. Firstly, only those who are at least seventeen or older will be able to participate. And for those of you who think that you can get by this stipulation, let me end that here and now. I will be placing an age line around the goblet as well as several enchantments so that you cannot simply throw your name in from outside the line. Also, the Headmasters and Professors will be guarding the goblet at all times from now until the selection.

"Secondly," Dumbledore continued, "placing your name into the goblet is voluntary, however once your name comes out of the goblet you will have no choice but to participate. Now that we have all of that out of the way…let the feast begin!"

With a loud clapping of his hands, food appeared from nowhere across all of the house tables. But as Harry automatically reached out to pick out something, his hand stopped. Nearly half of the food on the table was decidedly not British as he'd become accustomed too. And he wasn't the only one who noticed either. "Bloody hell," Ron gaped as he idly poked at one of the many dishes on the table. "What is that?"

"Boullabaisse." Harry and Hermione both said at the same time.

"Bless you." Ron responded, making Harry shake his head.

Sighing, Hermione dished out some of the food onto her plate. "We didn't sneeze Ron. Boullabaisse is a French seafood stew. It's actually quite good." She accented her point by taking a bite of the portion she'd placed into a bowl while Harry dished himself out a small portion as well.

"I'll take your word for it." Ron grumbled as he picked over the dishes, trying to find one that he could identify.

Harry felt her approaching, which was the only reason why he wasn't surprised when a soft voice spoke just behind him. " _Excusez-moi. Etes-vous_ – pardon me. Are you done with the bouillabaisse?"

Turning in his seat, Harry came face to face with the half-Veela French beauty that every male in the school was still ogling. If he thought her allure pressure was a slight push on his mental shields as she just walked by, then staring at her in the eye was like a wrecking ball. "Of course," Harry smiled before moving aside slightly so that she could reach the pot. " _Nous sommes fini avec le bouillabaisse."_

The French girl blinked at him at his usage of French before staring at him in confusion, all the while the pressure on his mental barriers from her allure didn't relent in the slightest. After only a slight moment of awkwardness, the girl nodded before reaching across him and spooning herself a helping of the stew. " _Merci_." She said with a slight bowing of her head.

To which Harry responded with, " _Avec plaisir, Madam, comment appelez-vous Madam_?"

" _Mademoiselle, Monsiuer Potter. Je m'appelle Mademoiselle Fleur Delacour_." The young woman responded with a smile before turning around and walking back to her seat amongst the Ravenclaw's.

When Harry turned back around in his seat, he was met with the awe struck face of just about every male within a twenty foot radius of him. "What?"

Ron was the first one to break the silence. "Blimey Harry…where did you learn to speak French?"

"That's what amazed you Ron?" Seamus gapped from down the table. "Harry here just talked to the finest lass in the world and got her to smile at him. And your question is where did he learn French?"

"Um, Seamus. You do realize that we are all still here right?" Lavender stated as she pointed to the girls at the table.

Seamus instantly blanched and started to stutter. "Well…what I mean is that– um…help?"

"Sorry mate." Harry laughed. "You dug your own grave on this one."

Leaving his roommate to try and stutter his way out of the corner he'd backed himself into, Harry returned to his food. "So…Fleur Delacour hmm? She's quite the looker." Ginny hummed beside him. "What do you think Hermione? Do we need to tell Ahsoka about this new development between Harry and a French girl? Maybe we can slip something into his weekly correspondence with her."

Harry nearly spit the stew out of his mouth. "Hey!" Harry growled. "Nothing happened. We were just talking."

"Who's Ahsoka?" Dean asked, as he and Seamus turned back towards him. "You meet some dame over the summer Harry?"

"Did he ever." Ginny smirked evilly. "Our dashing hero here ran in and quite literally swept her off her feet. Just like a knight in shining armor. He then spent the rest of the summer by her side. Didn't you Harry?"

"You've got a girlfriend Potter?" Seamus smiled, no doubt seeing a way out of the corner he'd backed into as he spoke loud enough to get Lavender's and Parvati's attention.

"What's she like?" Lavender pounced, her face eager for any new gossip. "I don't remember any girl named Ahsoka here at school. She a muggle or magical?"

"And you write to her every week!?" Parvati gushed. "How romantic!"

 _'Oh Ginny…you are so going to pay for this._ ' Harry cursed as he sent Ginny a withering look. "Ahsoka is…well she's unique that is for sure. And yes she is quite magical and incredibly powerful to boot. But she doesn't go to Hogwarts."

"What?" Seamus asked, his head tilting to the side before his eye lit up. "Harry mate…are you seeing an older witch?"

"She's only two years older than me." Harry said quickly. "And she's privately tutored, so odds are that you won't meet her here at school. And besides what do you care Seamus. After all…apparently every woman pales in comparison to Fleur according to you."

Lavender and Parvati, who'd been hanging onto his every word, immediately turned towards Seamus. "That's right Seamus." Lavender growled as Seamus paled. "Mind explaining that comment once more."

Seamus sent him a betrayed look, but Harry merely shrugged and turned back to his meal. "You know you're going to pay for that right Ginny?" Harry said lowly at Ginny.

"What?" Ginny said, looking thorough confused. "I'm just trying to help you Harry."

"Help me? How exactly are you trying to help me?" Harry asked back.

Ginny just stared at him for several long moments before shaking her head and going back to her food. "You're as clueless as my brother Harry."

* * *

 **A/N: The idea for the holo-mirror projectors is from my beta reader HowInMadHowie in case anyone wanted to know. See y'all in the next chapter! Please review if you feel so inclined!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Alright, bear with me because this will be a slightly longer note. First off, sorry for not updating but there are three good reasons for this. 1) Went to a martial arts tournament two weeks ago which completely consumed my life, so no writing. 2) Ended up injuring my knee at the tournament and was laid up for a few days. 3) And most important…my computer is FUBAR and in the shop right now.**

 **Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! And I apologize for not responding to your reviews (See reasons above) but I promise to do better this time around. Also to my two (or three) French reviewers, thank you for pointing out my mistakes. It's been a while since I've studied or spoken French so if I do write another section like that I will more than likely be taking you guys up on your offers.**

 **I should be able to put up at least one, maybe two more chapters if I'm lucky before the end of the year. But seeing as how this is the holiday season, not making any promises.**

 **And lastly, just a big thank you to my two beta readers HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon. Thank you guys so much for your continued help!**

 **Chapter 10**

Skidding across the cold floor of the training room, Ahsoka's body came to a painful and abrupt stop as she impacted the far wall. Unfortunately for her own sake, she couldn't complain about her current predicament. After all…it'd been her idea in the first place. She'd wanted to better understand the Sith, or rather understand how to fight against. Her only experience fighting against the Sith had been against Ventress. And while skilled, Ventress was still just an Acolyte according to Master Nox, not a Sith Lord. She'd never actually fought directly against Dooku. And she wanted to learn. To that, she'd asked Master Nox to train her the same way she would train a Sith Apprentice.

Which was why she was now currently curled up in the fetal position, her body wracked with convulsions after suffering from a particularly strong bout of Force lightning. The only upside to this situation was that Master Nox insisted that these lessons be done in private. Which meant that she was the only one to witness Ahsoka's pitiful performance. "Is that the best that you've got Ahsoka? I must say…I am thoroughly disappointed. After several weeks…I expected quite a bit more improvement from you than what you've shown me so far."

Gritting her teeth, Ahsoka forced herself up onto her feet, her lightsaber held weekly in her right hand as her left barely kept hold of her wand. Across from her, Master Nox was standing still with her lightsaber deactivated while using her wand to itch at her temple. Training with a Sith was so…different than what she was used too. With the Jedi, they were taught Forms in large groups and encouraged to practice with one another. Compliments were regular and criticisms light. But while training with Master Nox…there was no encouragement. And the criticisms were much more pointed and usually delivered with a stinging strike from a lightsaber or a Force-slash-magic based attack that left her groaning on the floor.

"So you've decided for another bout huh? Why don't you just be a good little girl and just stay down?"

With a yell, Ahsoka threw herself across the distance separating the two of them and swung widely. Master Nox didn't even seem to be trying, which infuriated Ahsoka even more, as she effortlessly dodged each of her swings. Her attack came to an end when Nox jumped back while slashing her wand across her body. Ahsoka tried to bring up a magical shield like Sirius had taught her, but in her state what she produced was so weak that Nox's spell sliced right through it like paper before slamming into Ahsoka and sending her back across the room.

"You're unbalanced Ahsoka." Nox sighed. "Fighting with the dark side doesn't mean letting your anger take control. But that is only part of your problem. Right now you're afraid."

"I'm…I'm not afraid." Ahsoka groaned as she spit out a wad of blood from the corner of her mouth.

"Yes you are." Nox chided. "Every move you make screams of fear Ahsoka. You're afraid to use the dark side while fighting because you're afraid that you'll lose yourself. You're afraid to press your attack against me because you're afraid that I'll counter you. You're strikes are hesitant because you're afraid that you're going to kill me if you don't pull back. And you're learning with me now because you're afraid that if you don't understand the Sith than your friends will die."

Retracting her wand back into its holster, Master Nox held her blade horizontally across her body.

"When you use the dark side, you don't fear it and you don't let it control you. You control it." The air around Nox wavered and darkened.

"When you press your attack. You don't let them counter you." The darkened air turned to wisp of black energy that started rolling off of Nox.

"When you protect someone you care about. You don't let them die." A chill descended through the air making Ahsoka shiver as the waves of dark energy surrounding Nox became even more pronounced.

"And when you strike at your enemy…you kill them." A wave of pure Force energy pulsed outwards from Nox making Ahsoka cover her eyes with her arm as she stagger backwards in an effort to keep her footing.

Risking a peek over her arm Ahsoka felt her heart skip a beat. Master Nox was almost…glowing. The air around her was…distorted. Creating a dark glowing aura around the Grand Master of the Guardian Order. "Can you see it child? This…this is my sheer resolve to kill you. This is what it means to fight a true Sith. And this is what you must achieve if you are to succeed."

Swallowing hard, Ahsoka held her blade in front of her as she closed her eyes. _'Don't fear the darkness. Control it. She will not counter me. I will kill her.'_

Ahsoka felt something stir within her. It was…it was unlike anything she'd ever felt. It was like the bottom of the vast well of the Force that was within her dropped out and she was falling deep. She was cold. Scared. And then as quick as the feelings came, they were gone. And she was on the floor of the training room. Master Nox was on her knees next to her, her face unreadable…but the arms that were around her shoulders were warm and gentle.

"You went too fast child." Master Nox told her. "I should've expected this. The same thing happened to Ashara the first time she truly touched the dark side."

Still shivering, Ahsoka leaned into Master Nox, forgetting for the moment just who she was. "I felt so…cold. Dark. Alone."

"That is what happens when those who've been trapped in the light for so long get their first taste of the darkness." Master Nox answered. "Stay too long in one side or the other, and trying to find balance becomes difficult. It took me almost a year of isolation to actually come to terms with the blinding light of the light side of the Force. That is why I've insisted on training my son and apprentices on both sides ever the since the start of their training. It makes coming to terms with both sides much easier."

Nodding, Ahsoka froze once more as where she was currently lying finally dawned on her. "I'm sorry Master Nox!" She shouted as she rushed to her feet, a mistake on her part as she immediately felt lightheaded and would've fallen once more had Master Nox not been there to brace her.

"Think nothing of it Ahsoka." Master Nox said, holding her steady. "You made a tremendous leap today. And I'm impressed. Now accessing the dark side will be easier for you and in time it will come as naturally to you as the light does."

Despite the current cold within her, Ahsoka couldn't help but swell with pride at her slight praise. Master Nox hardly ever praised her, or any of them for that matter. So to actually receive praise from her was nice. "Thank you, Master Nox."

Nodding to her, Master Nox looked off to the side. "You can come in now Winky."

With a slight crack, the small house elf Winky appeared just off to the side of Ahsoka and Master Nox. "Winky has news, Mistress Nox." Winky said politely with a slight bow. "Master Remus will be arriving in two hours Mistress. And Missy Ahsokie, little Missy Nat be worried about you."

"Thank you Winky." Ahsoka smiled as the elf glowed. "I'll go and see her," taking a step forward, Ahsoka stumbled and bit and had to stop to brace herself before she fell face first onto the floor. "As soon as I can get feeling back into most of my extremities that is."

"Take your time Ahsoka." Master Nox said before turning back towards Winky. "Has dinner been prepared?"

"Yes Mistress." Winky nodded enthusiastically. "Winky been cooking all day! Winky loves the challenge of cooking so many different foods for Mistress and guests! And Winky made up new rooms for Master Remus and the newcomers."

The reminder that Remus wasn't returning alone made Ahsoka freeze up momentarily. She'd knew exactly who was coming back with Remus, he'd informed them all as soon as they'd started their trek back to Earth. 'Master Kenobi. Master Ti. Padawan Maris Brood. Skyguy's son. And…Rex As well as two other Clone troopers.'

In truth, her feelings on the matter were pulling her in so many directions that she honestly didn't know what to feel. On one hand she was excited to see Master Kenobi again. He'd been...well not really like a father figure to her. But definitely like a favorite uncle to her. But then he'd also been part of the same council that'd thrown her out of the Order in the first place. Then there was Master Ti. And while she might've not known the Togruta Master personally, she did respect her if for no other reason than they were the same race. But again, she too was part of the council along with Master Yoda and Kenobi.

Then there was Skyguy's son. And she really didn't know how to feel about him. Would he look like Skyguy or Padme? She wanted to meet him, hold him and take care of him. But would she even be able too? Would she see a child, the son of Anakin and Padme, two people she respected more than anyone else in the galaxy? Or would she see the son of Darth Vader. The man responsible for hunting down and destroying the Jedi Order?

Then there was Rex and the others. Despite Remus's assurances that the clones were on their side and that they would explain what exactly happened at the end of the war that caused all of the Clones to turn against the Jedi, she still wasn't sure about him. And that tore at her heart. Rex had saved her life more times than she cared to count during the war. How could she doubt him like this?

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Ahsoka looked up into the green eyes of Master Nox. "You're strong Ahsoka. And you have nothing to fear or be ashamed of. It is them that should be nervous about meeting you once more. Not the other way around."

Ahsoka felt herself smile involuntarily at Master Nox's words. Ever since Remus had contacted them with a passenger list, she'd spent many hours talking with both Master Nox and Master Yoda as she tried to sort out her feelings. While Master Yoda always leaned towards her forgiving everyone, Master Nox wasn't. It was in fact that Jedi that needed her forgiveness. Not the other way around. And she wasn't sure if Master Nox had talked with them, but soon after that conversation both Master Secura, despite having no part in what happened, and Master Yoda had asked for her forgiveness for what happened when she'd been expelled from the Jedi Order.

"Winky." Master Nox called out, startling Ahsoka out of her thoughts. "Please take Ahsoka back up to her room and help her get cleaned up. I doubt she wants to meet our new guests looking like this."

It was only then that Ahsoka actually looked down at herself. Her clothes were torn in so many places she was actually amazed that they were still hanging onto her body. Black bruises covered most of her exposed skin which was also littered with small cuts and dried blood. 'Force…she really didn't hold back. But for some reason…I don't really feel that bad. Just a little sore and cold that's it.'

"Yes Mistress Nox!" Winky nodded before holding out her hand for Ahsoka to take. "Winky will take you straight aways Missy Ahsokie."

Taking hold of Winky's hand, Ahsoka had just a moment to brace herself before she felt her body rapidly being sucked through a tunnel of the Force. Less than a split second later the sensations ended as the duo appeared in the middle of Ahsoka's room. "Will you be needing Winky for anything else Missy Ahsokie?" Winky asked with a bright smile.

"Actually, if you could tell Nat that I'm here I would greatly appreciate it." Ahsoka said, patting the elf on the shoulder as she nodded vigorously. "You've been a big help to me. Thank you."

"Winky is proud to serve, Missy Ahsokie!" Winky smiled before snapping her fingers and disappearing.

Smiling at the elf's antics, Ahsoka stripped of what was left of her clothes and simply threw them right into the trash bin. They were beyond saving anyway. Walking into her small bathroom, she found a small vial of some sort on the vanity with a note that said, _'For Missy Ahsokies Ouchies_.'

 _'Winky never misses a thing._ ' Ahsoka smirked as she took up the vial and began applying its contents to her many injuries.

Once she was fully healed, Ahsoka looked at herself in the mirror. Despite being healed, she was still a mess. But instead of heading into her shower, she picked up her wand and after taking a deep breath pointed it at herself. " _Scourgify_."

The spell, taught to her by Sirius, was not necessarily pleasant as it felt like a dozen soapy sponges were running all over her body simultaneously. But she couldn't deny its usefulness. Within seconds of casting the spell she was completely clean from head to toe as if she'd been soaking in the shower for hours. 'It's faster than taking a shower that's for sure.'

After double checking to make sure that she got every spot, Ahsoka walked back into her bedroom and found a set of clothes that were almost identical to the outfit that she'd grown so accustomed to at the end of the Clone Wars. 'Winky…she really takes too good of care of us sometimes.'

She'd just barely managed to get her outfit on when the door to her room slid open and a small green blur slammed into her chest. "Are you alright Master?"

"I'm fine Nat." Ahsoka answered, lightly returning Nat's hug. "Master Nox was just a little more…aggressive in our training session today."

Pulling back from her, Nat looked up at her with her big dark eyes. "Master Nox can be scary at times."

Ahsoka couldn't help the slight chuckle that escaped her. "Yes she can." And knowing Master Nox, such a comment would probably be taken as a compliment rather than an insult. "But she is extremely wise and powerful. Even if her teaching methods are quite a bit different than what is considered to be normal. So always pay attention to what she has to teach you."

"Yes Master." Nat agreed enthusiastically.

"Good." Ahsoka smiled.

Nat was such a wonderful apprentice. Attentive and always willing to listen to her and accepting criticism without complaint. In short…the exact opposite of how Ahsoka had been when she was a youngling and even when she'd been a Padawan under Sky-guy. As they stood there staring at one another, Ahsoka blinked as she felt a ripple of the Force pulse through her. _'What…what was…Harry? Did…did something happen to Harry? No. Can't be. I must've just imagined it.'_

"Master? Are you alright?"

"Yes." Ahsoka nodded, trying to shake of the feeling of wrongness. 'No. Harry's fine. I was just imagining that.' "I'm fine. So…are you ready to meet some more Jedi Masters?"

"Uh-huh!" Nat grinned, nodding her head.

"Well alright then." Ahsoka said holding out her hand. "Then grab hold."

Taking a hold of Nat's hand, Ahsoka closed her eyes. A few weeks prior, Sirius and Amelia had taken the entire weekend off in order to train the five new arrivals how to apparate. It…hadn't been a pleasant experience as Ahsoka ended up getting splinched. Lucky it wasn't too serious…but it still hurt. But after that one little mistake she'd gotten the hang of apparating and now was taking advantage of just about every opportunity she could find to use it.

 _'Destination. Determination. Deliberation.'_ With a quick turn, Ahsoka felt Nat's hand tighten as the two of them passed through the ether of the Force only to emerge a moment later in entrance hall of the Temple. "I really don't like that Master." Nat grumbled, her hand still clutched tightly in Ahsoka's.

While Ahsoka did agree that apparation was not the most comfortable means of travel, it was the quickest and most convenient. And in a Temple the size of this one, almost essential otherwise they would be spending most of the day walking from one place to the other.

Realizing that they were the only ones in the entrance hall, Ahsoka let go of Nat's hand and faced off against her. "We still have some time until Master Lupin and the others arrive," she said while drawing her lightsaber. "How about a quick lesson my apprentice?"

Grinning widely, Nat reached down to her own belt and pulled out her own lightsaber. Ahsoka had to fight against her naturally tendency to scoff as the red blade came to life in the small girl's hands. 'Unfortunately, despite how deep the Force is ingrained into this world, it still lacks kyber crystals. And until we find a nearby planet that has some, we are stuck using synthed crystals in the interim.'

Standing side by side with her apprentice, Ahsoka began running through the basics of Form I. Despite only just still learning the form, Ahsoka could already tell that little Nat would be a natural with Form I. Much like her fellow Nautolan Master Fisto. Her movements were not nearly as refined the late Jedi Master's, but Ahsoka hoped that one day young Nat would be just as skilled as him.

Once they'd each gone through the Form twice, Ahsoka used her wand to create two blindfolds which were then placed around both of their eyes before they continued on. Moving in tandem, the two worked their way through the sequences of Shii-Cho at least a dozen times. The only sound in the entrance hall the passing of their lightsabers and the sounds of their feet moving across the floor. As they came to the end of their last time through, their silence was broken by a slow steady clapping coming from behind them.

"Well done," Master Secura applauded as she stood up straight from the pillar she'd been leaning against and walked towards them. "You're a natural with a lightsaber little one. And you Ahsoka…you seem to have found another niche in teaching. Well done."

Ahsoka felt a swell of pride in her chest. She rarely, if ever, received compliments from any Jedi, well Guardian, other than her previous Master. It was always 'Ahsoka that's wrong!' Or 'Ahsoka you need to be more mindful'. So hearing a compliment like that, and from a former Jedi Master, felt good.

"Thank you Master Secura." Ahsoka said with a slight bow with Nat mimicking her.

As they righted themselves, Ahsoka flushed as she finally noticed that they'd garnered quite an audience. In fact…all of former Jedi and Master Nox were watching them. Both Master Mareks were watching with grins on their faces. Mallie was holding a still sleeping Galen in her arms while Kento had a white loth-cat perched on his shoulder. The little creature, despite knowing that it was Master Yoda, still made her laugh quietly whenever she saw it. Which was quite frequent as Master Yoda almost seemed to prefer to be in his animagus form more often than not.

Of all of the Jedi Master's, it'd always been Master Yoda that concerned her. Her concern though wasn't because he'd been the Grandmaster of the Jedi. No. Her concern mainly came from the fact that Master Yoda always seemed so…sad. Before the Clone Wars the little Grandmaster had always seemed so full of life. Frequently joking with his fellow Jedi and the mentor that every youngling wanted to be taught by. But once the war started…his friendly disposition all but disappeared, replaced by a constant weariness that seemed to get worse and worse the longer the war dragged on. But now, here on this world, Master Yoda almost seemed to have found a new lease on life.

Jumping off Kento's shoulder, the loth-cat morphed mid-air, transforming back into Master Yoda's physical form before it touched the ground. "Yes yes…impressive you both are." Master Yoda smiled as he hobbled over to them before pointing his walking stick at Nat. "Widen your feet, you must. Good base, you have not. Fall easily, you will."

Nat quickly nodded before taking up her normal fighting stance, to which Master Yoda immediately responded by using his cane to tap her legs slightly further apart. "Still time to grow, your apprentice has." Master Yoda noted. "Compensate for this while teaching, you must."

Nodding, Ahsoka watched attentively as Master Yoda instructed her apprentice, and by extension herself. Say what one would about the aging Jedi Master, but there was no better teacher in the whole of the galaxy. "They're here." Master Nox announced suddenly, drawing attention to herself as she pocketed the small handheld mirror that she'd been holding. "Let us go and greet our new arrivals shall we?"

Falling in line beside Master Nox, Ahsoka couldn't help but notice that she seemed…off. "Master Nox?" Ahsoka said lowly as they walked. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Nox answered quickly.

Licking her lips, Ahsoka decided to press her luck. "Is…is there something wrong with Harry?"

Master Nox walk halted momentarily, but it was so subtle that the only reason Ahsoka even noticed in the first place was because she was paying such close attention to the older woman. "I don't know." Nox answered, her face betraying nothing. "But I trust my son to handle anything that might be thrown at him."

Nodding to herself, Ahsoka looked up at the red skyline as their small group made their way out onto the landing platform. Their timing was impeccable, as soon as they reached the middle of the platform a small ship became visible on the horizon, growing steadily larger the closer it got to them before coming to a stop directly above their heads. Once the ship had settled down on the platform, the rear hatch opened and Ahsoka felt her breath catch in her throat as she saw several of her friends that she'd already resigned to never see again.

Master Nox stepped forward as the new arrivals, led by Remus, made their way down the loading ramp and onto the landing platform. "Remus," Nox greeted with with a slight bowing of her head. "It is good to see you again. I've grown more than slightly tired of trying to keep that mangy mutt in line while you've been gallivanting around the galaxy."

"Sorry for the trouble," Remus smiled. "Got a little side tracked, but it was worth it."

"That I can see." Master Nox nodded before shifting her attention to the new arrivals. "Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. Master Shaak Ti. Padawan Maris Brood. Captain Rex. Commanders Wolffe and Gregor. Welcome to Earth." Just as Nox finished greeting the new arrivals two more familiar faces stepped out of the ship,"Ah I was wondering if you two were coming out."

"Thank you...Master Nox." Obi-Wan responded, bowing slightly with Master Ti and the young Zabrak following suit. "Remus and Aela told us your story madam. And I must thank you…if not for you…then we might have all truly have perished."

"I'm sure some of you would've survived." Master Nox responded with a grin. "You Jedi are far more resilient than you give yourselves credit for."

Obi-Wan nodded, seemingly not quite sure if he should be offended or not, before moving to look at the rest of them. When his eyes landed on Ahsoka, she felt her lungs freeze. There was such…sadness in his eyes. It didn't even register in her mind that she was moving until she was standing just in front of Master Kenobi with only a pace between the two of them. "Ahsoka." Master Kenobi greeted her. "I'm so happy to hear that you're safe."

"You too…Master." Ahsoka responded before lunging forward and wrapping her arms around him.

She felt Master Kenobi stiffen, and for a moment she was worried that she'd made a mistake. But then his arms rose up and encircled her as well. No words were spoken between the two. None were needed. All that was needed was the comfort that they were drawing from one another. "I'm truly glad that you're safe Ahsoka." Master Kenobi said pulling back from her. "And if I may say so…from what I've heard from Remus it sounds like you've started to thrive in this place."

"Thank you Master." Ahsoka smiled. "No offense to you and the Jedi, but I honestly believe I've learned more about the Force through the magic of this world than I did in the Jedi while I was a youngling."

One of Master Kenobi's eyebrows arched at that. "Perhaps if you had actually attended or stayed awake in your classes like you were supposed to, then you would've learned more."

"Maybe," Ahsoka smiled back before turning her attention to the three clones standing just behind and off to the side of Master Kenobi.

"Commander Tano." Captain Rex saluted her.

Not even bothering to respond, Ahsoka simply walked forward and embraced Rex as well. "It's good to see you Rex."

Just like with Master Kenobi, it took Rex a while to respond to her action. "It's good to see you as well Commander." Rex finally responded as he lightly returned her hug for a moment before she stepped away from him.

Beside her, both Master Kenobi and Ti were greeting Master Yoda and Secura. But Ahsoka's eyes were drawn to Aela. Or more specifically the small bundle that Aela was carrying in her arms. Swallowing past the lump that'd formed in her throat, Ahsoka stepped up to Aela. "May I?" She asked, nodding down towards the small bundle in her arms.

"Of course." Aela smiled before passing off the infant to her.

Pulling back on the blanket slightly, Ahsoka stared down at the infant in her hands. 'Force…he's a spitting image of Sky-guy. Only slightly…softer. Like Padme.' She thought as she stared down at the infant. 'And he's powerful. Force…he'll probably be able to give even Harry a run for his credits when he's fully trained.'

As if sensing that he was being watched, the baby started fidgeting in her arms as two blue eyes opened and stared up at her. "Well hello there little Luke." She said smiling. "I'm…your Aunt Ahsoka."

Luke stared at her for a while longer. Then he let out a wide yawn and closed his eyes once more. "Well…" Ahsoka laughed before handing Luke back off to Aela, albeit reluctantly. "So much for first impressions right?"

"Don't fret Ahsoka." Aela laughed. "Luke didn't get much sleep recently. I'm sure once he's fully conscious he'll fall in love with you."

Smiling, Ahsoka turned back around and started to mentally prepare herself for the rest of what was to come. But before the greeting could go any further, they were interrupted by a loud crack as Winky appeared.

"Ah! Don't let thems hurts Winky Mistress Nox!" Winky cried as she dove behind Master Nox as both Master Kenobi and Ti drew their lightsabers and all three clones drew their blasters in response to her sudden and unexpected arrival.

"Stand down." Master Nox said sharply at the two Jedi Masters and three troopers, her tone leaving no room for argument. "This is Winky. The caretaker of the Temple you could say."

Everyone lowered their weapons, slowly. "Are you alright Winky?" Ahsoka asked as she knelt down next to the little elf.

Winky nodded, then her eyes widened. "Mistress Nox! Master Harry needs you!"

Ahsoka felt her stomach drop to her feet with those few words. 'Oh no…'

Master Nox's brow furrowed as she stared down at Winky, the Jedi around her completely forgotten. "What happened?"

"Winky does not know Mistress." Winky said as she pulled a small mirror out from within her clothes and handing it over to Nox. "But Master Harry bes calling you!"

Taking the mirror into her hand, Ahsoka felt her heart thud in her chest as Master Nox activated the connection. ' _Please be alright Harry.'_

* * *

Pushing his plate away from him, Harry stared around at the Great Hall of Hogwarts. The Professors had certainly outdone themselves this year with the decorations. Carved pumpkins alighted with candies floated throughout the hall while conjured bats constantly flew back and forth overhead, diving every now and them to nap a piece of candy out of the hands of the students.

The walls were decorated with orange and black ribbons and banners. Even the ghosts of Hogwarts were in on the festivities, jumping out from the walls or floating up in the middle of the tables trying to scare the students, or at the very least try to get a laugh out of them.

But despite the decorations and entertainment, few were actually truly paying attention to their surroundings as everyone had their eyes focused on the burning goblet that was standing tall at the front of the Great Hall. Ever since the feast dismissed the night before, every member of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang that'd made the voyage to Hogwarts had put their name into the fire, as well as most of the sixth and nearly every seventh year in Hogwarts had put their names in as well. Of course, they weren't the only ones to try, and those that were not technically able to participate learned the hard way that Dumbledore hadn't been lying about his protections the night before either.

Dumbledore had indeed erected an age line around the goblet as well as a host of other enchantments which had been overseen by the Headmaster and Headmistress of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. And there was also a professor from Hogwarts standing vigil next to the goblet at all times. A few students had tried to test the defenses by standing just outside the age line and tossing a wad of paper at the goblet, but each time it'd been intercepted by the professor on duty or it'd simply burst into flames well before it reached the goblet.

The only ones brave, or rather stupid, enough to try and cross the line were Fred and George Weasley. Harry had to give them credit, they thought of everything. They'd brewed an aging potion just long enough to supposedly age them a few months so that they would be considered "of age". And then they waited until it was Professor Moody's turn to guard the goblet. Although 'guard' was a rather loose term considering all the Professor did was sit back and laugh at the students who tried to cheat their way in. So when Fred and George showed up, he did nothing as the twins drank the potion and jumped over the line. Apparently, not even Madam Pomfrey had been able to remove the snow white beards that'd appeared on their faces after they'd been thrown forcibly away from the goblet.

Once all of the students had had their fill and the plates disappeared from the tables, Dumbledore rose from his seat once again and smiled. "Ladies and gentlemen…it is now time for the choosing of the champions for the Triwizard Tournament!"

The entire hall quieted as the fire within the goblet rose up almost as if out of excitement. If he hadn't been paying attention carefully he would've missed it. But as the flames started to die down a single piece of only semi-scorched parchment floated out of the flames and into Dumbledore's waiting hand. "The champion from Beauxbatons is…Mademoiselle Fleur Delacour!"

Everyone in the hall applauded as the blonde French beauty rose from her seat with her head high in the air before marching towards the front of the hall. Turning towards Ron, Harry held out an open hand. Grumbling, Ron fished out a sickle from his pocket, stared at it for a moment and dropped it into Harry's hand. "How did you know?"

Twirling the coin between his fingers, Harry smiled. "That's for me to know and you to find out Ron."

Fleur, after shaking the hand of the Beauxbatons' Headmistress turned and disappeared down a stairway just behind the teachers table. As soon as she was out of sight, the goblet flared to life once again. "And the champion from Hogwarts," Dumbledore announced as he grabbed the floating piece of paper out of the air. "Is…Cedric Diggory!"

The applause was almost deafening as the seventh year Hufflepuff rose from his seat and awkwardly waved at the students. Harry clapped as well, as he now had a true reason to actually pay close attention to the tournament. Ever since his second year, his mother had bade him to find worthy witches and wizards that could aid them in their cause. Cedric had been on his short list for a long time. Now with him entered into the tournament, Harry would be able to more properly assess his skills and level of power.

As Cedric passed by Dumbledore, pausing only long enough to shake Professor Sprout's hand, the goblet came to life for a third time. Reaching out with a quickness the defied his age, Dumbledore snatched the last piece of paper out of the air. "And our last champion. From Durmstrang…Viktor Krum!"

Again the Hall erupted in applause as the Quidditch star from Durmstrang rose to his feet and marched forward to join his fellow champions. At the head table, Karkaroff rose from his seat and roughly embraced his school's champion before ushering him towards the back stairwell where the other two champions waited.

"The choosing of the champions has now come to a close." Dumbledore announced once Krum was out of view. "The first task shall be in two weeks outside at the-"

The goblet roared to life once again as a single piece of paper floated out from the flames. As Dumbledore confusingly reached out towards the paper, Harry felt a sinking feeling in his gut as a wave of magic settled over him. _'What? What is…oh hell no. My luck cannot be that bad.'_

Opening the piece of paper, Dumbledore turned white as a ghost. "Harry Potter."

The instant his name passed through Dumbledore's lips, the wave of magic he felt over himself slammed home. All around the hall the students of the three schools started whispering loudly to one another as they all turned to look at him. "Harry Potter." Dumbledore repeated. "You have been chosen…as a champion to compete in the Triwizard Tournament."

Sparing a quick glance at his friends, all of whom looked just as confused as he felt, Harry rose to his feet and cleared his throat. "You must be mistaken Headmaster." Harry said loudly so that the entire hall could hear him.

"There is no mistake Harry," Dumbledore said back, "Please, come and join your fellow champions and we will-"

Instead, Harry snapped his wrist off to the side and drew his wand before holding it point up in front of his face. "I, Harry James Potter, do hereby swear on my life and magic that I did not place my name into goblet of fire nor did I ask anyone else to place my name into the goblet of fire. So mote it be." Harry felt another wave of magic settle over him, and he could've sworn he glowed slightly as the magical oath settled over him. " _Lumos_!"

The end of his wand lit up brightly and he held the spell for nearly a full minute before cancelling the spell with 'nox'. "As you can see Headmaster," Harry said, facing off against eh stunned faces of the students and Professors. "By this oath you can see that I did not place my name into the goblet. Nor do I have any wish to participate in this ri-"

His words were drowned out as he let out a cry of agony as he doubled over and collapsed against the table. It was as if his very magic was revolting against what he was saying. He'd never felt anything like it before, not even the pain his mother induced when she trained him in the dark side could compare to what he was feeling at that moment.

As quick as the pain came, it passed. And Harry was left gasping as he tried to blink the black spots out of his eyes. When he could finally see once again he found that Dumbledore was next to him and his fellow Gryffindors had created a ring around him with Ron, Hermione and Ginny being the closest. "You mustn't say that Harry." Dumbledore said sadly. "The moment your name came out of the goblet a pact was formed. You must compete…or you will lose your magic. Now please. Head down to your fellow champions while we try and sort out what happened."

Nodding, Harry spared his friends a look that told them he would be okay before marching with his head held high towards the head table. He could hear more than a few harsh whispers coming from the students behind him, he paid none of them any mind. He knew the truth. His friends knew the truth. It didn't matter if the rest of them choose to believe the truth or not.

Walking down the dimly lit stairs, Harry was doing everything he could to keep himself in check as he came upon the small room that housed the three Champions. Cedric was the first to look up as Harry entered the room, his face going from excited and nervous to confused in the space of heartbeat. "Harry?" He said, garnering the attention of the other two champions. "Do they want us to come back up to the hall?"

"No." Harry said shaking his head.

"Then what are you doing here?" Fleur asked, the friendly persona she'd shown him yesterday gone and replaced by one of suspicion.

"Apparently someone is trying to kill me again this year," he said, making sure he met each of the champions in the eye before continuing. "And they've entered my name into this blasted tournament. So…I'm the fourth champion of this year's Triwizard Tournament."

Hearing at least a dozen heavy footfalls coming down the stairs behind him, Harry moved off to the side of the room just as all of the Dumbledore, Karkaroff, Maxime, Bagman and Crouch came into the room. "Totally unacceptable Dumbledore!" Madam Maxime was shouted as soon as they were in the room with the champions. "Hogwarts cannot have two champions!"

Dumbledore completely ignored the towering Headmistress of Beauxbatons as he made a straight line for Harry. "Tell me that you didn't do it Harry." He almost pleaded. "Tell me that you didn't put your name in the goblet."

"I didn't Headmaster," Harry responded coldly. "And in case it just slipped all of your minds, just a few moments ago I swore an oath on my life and magic saying that I did not put my name into contention nor did I ask anyone else to do so for me."

"You're obviously lying!" Karkaroff snarled. "Your name came out of the Goblet! You must've put it in there!"

Harry didn't even fight the temptation to roll his eyes at the man. "Alright then…let's review the facts shall we? First, the goblet choose three champions before spitting out my name. Which should've been a red flag to anyone with a brain. Second, no one in the school had any idea how the champions would be selected until less than twenty-four hours ago. Third, the goblet was warded by all three of you and kept under constant watch by the Ministry and the Professors of this school. So in order for me to get my name in there, I would've had to do something to the goblet to name four champions instead of three. Plus get by the wards laid down by you three, and I would've had to get past the Professors guarding the goblet. Then to top it all off, I would've had to figure out how to lie my way through a magical oath. And all in less than twenty-four hours. I'm good…but I'm humble enough to admit that I'm not that good."

"Kid's got a point Karkaroff." Moody's rough voice echoed down the stairs as the scarred former Auror limped into the room, followed closely by Snape.

Standing upright, Dumbledore turned towards Moody. "Alastor. Severus. What have you been able to find out?"

"Mostly that the kid hit the nail on the head." Moody grumbled. "Someone enchanted the goblet so that there would be four schools instead of just three. Although how the bloody hell they managed that will take a lot more studying."

"So he did not put his name in the goblet." Viktor Krum grumbled. "Why would someone want you in the tournament?"

"Well, considering there have been at least five attempts on my life since I was born, two of which have occurred at this very school, I would say the reason why someone would want me in the tournament would be fairly obvious." Harry countered. "Hell, I can name five people off the top of my head that want to see me dead. Two of whom are in this very room. Snape and Karkaroff. Perhaps we should be asking these two Death Eaters why they entered my name into the tournament."

Harry could've sworn that he heard Snape's teeth grinding and Karkaroff turned white before going bright red before taking a step towards him. "How dare you accuse me you little shi-"

Karkaroff came to an abrupt stop, his hand reaching into the folds of his robe, as Harry's wand appeared right between the Headmaster's eyes. "My mother had me memorize the name of every Death Eater that managed to escape justice during the last war. And how they got off." Harry growled. "You didn't even have the courage to face the consequences of your actions after the war. Instead you started singing like a bird trying to weasel your way out of Azkaban. So what was the plan Karkaroff? Try to kill the boy-who-lived so that you might earn a reprieve from your fellow Death Eaters?"

"That's enough Harry." Dumbledore said, his voice dripping with magic as he laid a hand on Harry's outstretched arm. "You've made your point my boy. And no one here believes that you willingly put your name into the goblet. So put your wand away."

Turning his head, Harry saw that just about everyone in the room had their wands drawn even though they weren't pointing them at either Harry or Karkaroff. Letting his wand fall back into his sleeve, Harry stepped away from the Headmaster's and back towards the back wall.

"Thank you Harry." Dumbledore smiled before his face hardened once again. "And you Karkaroff, will never try to pull your wand on one of my students again. Am I understood?"

For just a moment, Harry once again saw wizard behind the mask. The same wizard that he saw last year. The same wizard that defeated Grindelwald and who inspire such fear within Voldemort. _'No wonder mother never wanted to cross Dumbledore. When he's actually flexing his magic just being in his presence is taxing.'_

"Of course Dumbledore." Karkaroff coughed as he whipped at the light sheen of sweat on his brow.

"Splendid." Dumbledore clapped merely as he slipped back into his normal grandfather like role once again. "Now then, as we can all agree that Harry's entry into this tournament was not his wish, the question becomes what should we do now."

"Unfortunately, there is nothing to be done Dumbledore." Bagman said sadly, although Harry could just barely pick up a trace of excitement radiating off the man. "Harry will have to compete with the rest of the champions or risk the consequences."

"If Hogwarts is to have two champions, then I demand that Beauxbatons and Durmstrang receive the same honor." Maxime demanded.

"That's impossible." Crouch said stepping forward. "The only way to choose a champion for the Triwizard Tournament is through the goblet of fire. And the goblet will not reignite until the next tournament. No. For good or ill, these four before us are the chosen champions of the Triwizard Tournament."

An uneasy silence settled over the room as Crouch's words sunk in. "Well then," Ludo Bagman coughed. "Now that we have that all settled we can move onto the reason why you are all here. The first task shall take place in two weeks. The three, excuse me, four of you shall be tasked with retrieving a certain item. Now it is imperative that you retrieve said item as it will have a clue as to the second task. Now while the four of you will have near unrestricted access to Hogwarts' library, you will be unable to receive special instruction from any of your professors. Any questions? No. Good. Well then, off you four go! We officials have some reorganizing to do before the first task is to take place."

Not even bothering to wait, Harry turned on his heel and marched back up the stairs and out into the Great Hall. The Hall was completely empty as he strode through and out the main doors. Just as he was starting to head up the stairs a voice from behind pulled him up short. "Harry! Wait up a second."

Turning in place, Harry found Cedric jogging to catch up with him. "What is it Cedric?"

Coming to a stop at the base of the stairs, Cedric stared up at him. "I just wanted to let you know that I don't think that you entered your name into the tournament Harry." He said, somewhat surprising Harry. "And I'll make sure that everyone in the school knows that as well."

"Thanks Cedric," Harry smiled in spite of himself. "That means a lot coming from you."

"No problem Harry." Cedric smiled before clapping him on the shoulder. "Now…I know that we're not supposed to get help from the Professors or anything like that. But they didn't say anything about us helping out one another. So, if you ever want to study together just let me know."

"I'd like that Cedric." Harry nodded back as the older boy stepped away from him.

"Good." Cedric nodded before waving him off. "Now go off and celebrate with your house. If you Gryff's are anything like us Puff's, I'm sure that there is one hell of a party waiting for you back in your common room."

"Oh without a doubt." Harry laughed. "Good night Cedric."

"Night Harry."

As Harry watched the older boy walk away, he couldn't help but shake his head. Cedric was just about everything you wanted in a leader. He was fairly powerful magically and he was consistently among the top five students for his year. He was also charismatic and the fact that he wasn't hard on the eyes definitely helped him as well. But despite all of his positive qualities, he had a glaring problem. He was too nice. And in a tournament like this, that could spell his downfall.

 _'Cedric would be a huge boon for us if we could convince him to side with the Guardians. Even if he doesn't become a Knight or a Master there could still be a place for him._ ' Harry thought as he made his way towards the Gryffindor common room. _'He's pureblood from a well-known family. Damn. Now on top of trying to make it through this tournament in one piece I have to make sure that Cedric does as well. Why the hell can't I just have one normal year at school?'_

True to Cedric's prediction, the moment Harry entered the Gryffindor common room he was met with a wave of applause as just about every member of his house was waiting for him to arrive. At the head of which where the Weasley twins who, before he could do anything, dragged him through the entrance and hefted him up onto his shoulders all the while shouting, "Hail to the Champion!"

After several embarrassing moments, Harry finally managed to get the twins to set him down. The moment his feet touched the floor a cup of butterbeer was shoved into his hands and he was assaulted with a seemingly never ending stream of questions. "How did you do it Harry?" Being the most common of the questions.

Finally having enough of it, Harry drew his wand and let off a low grade cannon blast charm over his head. "I'm sorry to disappoint you all, but I did not enter my name into the tournament. And at the moment the Professors are unsure as to how my name got entered, but they are working on trying to figure it out." Pausing, he made sure to scan over all of his fellow Gryffindors before continuing. "Cedric should be the one that you are all cheering for, for he was the one who was truly chosen as Hogwarts Champion. And while I do still intend to do my best in this tournament, please give him your utmost support as well."

After his little speech was over and done with, Harry secluded himself into one of the corners of the common room with only Hermione, Ginny and Ron for company while the rest of their house continued to party. Albeit in a far more subdued atmosphere than when he first entered.

Roughly an hour later the party had pretty much wound down to only a few sixth and seventh years who were participating in a game of drinking exploding snap with a bottle of firewhiskey that'd somehow been smuggled into the dorms. "I think that's enough for one night." Harry said, rising to his feet, startling Ginny awake who'd been leaning into him slightly as she napped. "We should all get to bed…and I've got a call to make."

Once back in the safety of his bed, Harry reached under his mattress and pulled out a small handheld mirror. Holding the mirror up to eye level, he spoke in a clear voice. "Mother."

The mirror stayed blank for some time, and when the connection was finally made it wasn't to who he was expecting. _**"Master Harry!"**_ Winky gushed. _**"Winky sorry for answering…but Mistress Nox is greeting the new arrivals."**_

' _Of course…I forgot that Remus was due to be back today.'_ "That's alright Winky." Harry said, hoping to head off another crying fit from the elf. "I need you to get my mother fast Winky. Something…something bad has happened."

WInky's large eyes grew even larger as she nodded her head vigourusly. _**"Winky understands! Winky be going to Mistress Nox right now!"**_

A minute or so later, the surface of the mirror to ripple and be replaced by the image of his mother. _**"Harry. What happened? I felt…something shift in the Force involving you. Ahsoka did as well."**_

Harry wasn't necessarily surprised by this. Well, he wasn't surprised that his mother felt whatever had happened to him when his name came out of the goblet. He was surprised that Ahsoka had felt it as well, but that was something that could be pondered at a later time.

"Mother…something really bad happened." Harry began before taking a deep breath. "Somehow my name was entered into the selection for the Triwizard Tournament. I'm now the fourth Champion…and there is a bind on my magic. If I don't compete, I will die."

His mother's face hardened like stone in the mirror and he could've sworn that the edges of her irises started to turn a bright shade of yellow. Never a good sign. _**"I will be there tomorrow first thing in the morning my son. I promise you. Whoever has done this will pay with their life."**_

* * *

Sitting in the Hufflepuff common room, Cedric was enjoying his fourth bottle of butterbeer as his house mates partied around him. Despite the jovial atmosphere and the fact that the party was being thrown in his honor, Cedric was having a hard time actually enjoying himself as Harry's forced entry into the tournament weighed heavily on his mind. _'He's only a kid. A fourth year. This tournament was known to be extremely dangerous and required no less than a NEWT level understanding in all forms of magic. How do they expect him to keep up?'_ He'd resolved himself to keeping an eye on Harry and helping him whenever he could. 'I am a Hufflepuff after all. And if there is one thing that we are known for it is our loyalty.'

"Do not speak of what you do not know Smith!" a cold voice snapped Cedric of his musing.

 _'And speaking of loyalty.'_

Across the common room, Susan Bones was squared off against Zacharias Smith with Hannah Abbott at her side. The empty bottle in both of their hands and the fact that Smith was drenched from head to toe spoke to how far their current argument had escalated.

"I'm only saying what we all already know Bones." Smith growled back as he wiped his face with the sleeve of his robe. "Your precious little friend somehow managed to con his way into this tournament, to steal all the honor for himself. He's nothing more than an attention seeking prat and you just don't want to admit it."

Cedric nearly missed a step as the candles in the common room and even the fire in the fireplace flickered for the briefest of moments. _'Is- is it getting colder in here? What is– no. Just my imagination.'_

"Harry did not enter his name into the Goblet of Fire." Cedric said loudly, making sure he had everyone's attention. He should've done this the moment he stepped into the common room, but he was a little too caught up in the celebration. 'Better late than never I guess.'

"Surely you don't believe him Cedric?" Someone called out from the crowd. "He's trying to steal your glory for himself!"

"No he isn't. He didn't enter his name into the Goblet." Cedric repeated. "He gave a oath on his life and magic that he didn't. His magic accepted the oath and he still lives and can still use magic. Anyone who understands even the basics of magic should know that that means he spoke the truth. Not only that, but Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Moody both agree that someone else entered his name into the Goblet. So, if any of you have a good reason as to why the Headmaster, Professor Moody and magic itself is lying for Harry's sake I would dearly love to hear it."

Wisely enough, no one spoke up. Even Smith seemed thoroughly chastised. "No one? Good. Now, and I'm ashamed to have to do this, but I feel that I must remind all of you that we are Hufflepuffs. You all value hard work and loyalty above all else otherwise you wouldn't be in this house. And as for Harry 'stealing' my glory. He's not. He made it abundantly clear that he wanted nothing to do with this tournament, to the point where he almost died!" Looking around, he made sure he had everyone's attention. "Hufflepuff loyalty isn't isolated to just our house. We are loyal to all of our fellow students. So I hope that all of you will support and stay loyal to Harry, just as you are all supporting me right now."

Many of his fellow housemates stared down at their feet as they shifted them back and forth. As for Susan, she was giving him a shy smile that made her look far too cute in his opinion. 'Fourth year Cedric! She's a bloody fourth year!'

"Right," Cedric coughed awkwardly stepping away from everyone. "Well…I want you all to keep on partying. But I'm going to bed. I've only got two weeks until the first task and need to devote as much time as I can to the library. See you all in the morning."

Walking up to his dorm room, Cedric had to shake his head more than once as he tried to get the image of Susan smiling at him out of his head. _'Maybe fourth year isn't too young…'_

* * *

Sitting in the plush chair within her room, Fleur Delacour stared absentmindedly at the book in her lap. With the first task of the Triwizard Tournament being only two weeks away, she knew that she needed to study every moment she could. But at the moment she couldn't concentrate on anything other than what had just transpired just a few hours prior.

 _'Four champions…one of whom is a mere boy.'_ She thought to herself before shaking her head. _'No. Not a boy. Harry Potter may be many things…but a boy he is certainly not.'_

When Harry first descended into the champion's room, her thoughts had mirrored those of her fellow champions. That Harry had been sent down to retrieve them. But when he announced that he'd been chosen as a champion her thoughts had immediately went down a different, much darker path. The whole reason that she'd even wanted to take part in this ridiculous tournament was to prove that she wasn't just a pair of tits with no brain in her skull. And in waltzed Harry Potter, one of the most renown wizards in the wizarding world despite his age, and announced that he was competing as well. The nerve of the man! He already had enough fame as it was and now here he was trying to take away her chance to prove herself!

She could feel her veela half clawing to get out and immolate the boy where he stood! But before she could the Headmasters and her own Headmistress arrived and she was forced to try and control herself. The conversation with the Heads of the schools that followed made her completely reevaluate her thoughts though. Upon having his name called Harry had stood up in front of all the students and swore an oath on both his life and magic, a fact confirmed by Madam Maxime, that he had not placed his name in the goblet nor had he asked anyone too.

Then if that wasn't bad enough, Harry had gone through a list of why it would've been impossible for him to enter himself even if he'd wanted too. By the time he'd finished his speech she actually felt ashamed for jumping to her prior conclusion that he was just trying to garner more fame for himself. She actually felt pity for the boy…for all of five seconds. Any pity she might've had for him was gone the moment he pulled his wand on Headmaster Karkaroff, replaced by an insurmountable amount of respect.

Here he was, a boy, no, a man of fourteen and he was facing down a wizard who was over twice his age! And he wasn't even batting an eye at the situation! And if that wasn't enough…the sheer amount of power that was radiating off of him…it was more than slightly distracting. Her veela side had shifted its tune as Harry went from a threat and an upstart…to a potential mate. She hadn't even realized that she'd drawn her wand until she felt herself moving towards Karkaroff. Thank magic that Madam Maxime was there to stop her before she made a complete fool of herself.

Hearing the door to her room opening, Fleur looked up as Madam Maxime walked in. "Fleur." Her half-giant Headmistress greeted her.

"Madam Maxime," Fleur greeted back as she got up. "How was the meeting with the other Headmasters and the representatives from the British Ministry?"

"Pointless." Madam Maxime nearly spat. "There is no way to remove Harry Potter from the tournament without killing him at worst or risking permanent damage to his magical abilities at best. And there is no way for either Beauxbatons nor Durmstrang to enter a second champion either. So we will simply have to adjust our plans accordingly."

"Of course Headmistress." Fleur agreed, nodding her head.

Nodding, Madam Maxime conjured an oversized armchair across from Fleur before sitting down. "You're biggest challenge will be Viktor Krum. His flying skills are far beyond anyone else's. And I doubt that Karkaroff has held back at all in training the boy either. He'll have more than one or two nasty tricks up his sleeve."

Staring at her Headmistress, Fleur slowly shook her head. "With respect Headmistress, I must disagree. Krum will not be my biggest advisory in this tournament."

One of Madam Maxime's eyebrows rose as she regarded her. "Surely you do not think that the Diggory boy will be your biggest threat? While his school records are indeed impressive, as we both saw tonight he is soft. He does not have the will to win a competition like this."

"No." She said shaking her head. The Diggory boy seemed, but like Madam Maxime said that trait would prove to be disadvantageous to him in this type of competition. "Harry Potter will be my biggest threat this year."

"Harry Potter?" Madam Maxime repeated leaning back. "The boy is several years younger than you my dear. And while I'll admit that he has potential, especially with the way he stood up to Karkaroff, it will still be years before he is at your level."

"I beg to differ Madam Maxime," Fleur countered. "Harry's magic is very well refined. And the way he holds himself speaks volumes as well. He's already at my level. And if I'm being perfectly honest Headmistress, he might even be slightly beyond me. Although where he got his training is beyond me. From what I've seen so far…it certainly wasn't at this school."

Madam Maxime stood silently evaluating her for several minutes before nodding her head. "Good. I was worried that you wouldn't see the boy as a threat and therefore dismiss him out of hand."

"I assure you Headmistress, there is no chance of that." There was no way that her veela nature would let her forget about a wizard of Harry's caliber. "And I promise you. I shall not let our school down in this tournament."

* * *

Walking down to breakfast the next morning with Hermione, Ginny and Ron, it took all of his effort not to smile, or cringe, about the impending storm that was about to rain down on Hogwarts. "Alright Harry," Hermione said softly as the four of them stepped off the last stair and onto the ground floor. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"You're good at hiding things Harry, but remember I'm your apprentice." Ginny scoffed. "And I know that you're hiding something. So spill."

Smirking slightly, he glanced over his shoulder at his friends. "All I'll say is this. Make sure that you have a good seat."

Before any of his friends could figure out his statement, they came upon the doors to the Great Hall just as Daphne and Tracey appeared at the opposite end of the hall. As he saw them, Harry couldn't help but frown. Daphne had been acting aloof for the past few days as she barely acknowledged any of them. Even Tracey was having trouble getting through to her lifelong friend. In fact, the only one she seemed to even interact with was Luna, and that was only because Luna was her apprentice.

As they drew closer to one another just down the hall from the Great Hall, Harry opened his mouth to greet her, only to have the words die on his lips as Daphne leaned into him and embraced him lightly. Her actions were so contrary to her normal behavior as of late that he almost didn't even realize she'd slipped a piece of paper into the inner lining of his robes until her hand was back out. "Read it as soon as you get the chance." She whispered before pulling away from him and turning around and heading into the Hall.

Now even more confused, Harry followed after her into the hall. The Great Hall was almost completely packed as it was nearly the end of breakfast and at the head table were all three Heads of the schools, the professors of Hogwarts and Barty Crouch and Ludo Bagman. The moment his presence became known, every conversation in the hall stopped as everyone turned to stare at him. 'Of course.' Harry sighed. 'I knew that this was going to happen.'

As he walked down the length of the tables, Harry became even more confused. He expected some level of hostility, and the Slytherin's certainly didn't disappoint as more than a few threw a couple of sharp words his way. But what did surprise him was the fact that the Slytherin's were the only ones. None of the Gryffindors nor the Ravenclaws said anything. And while he did receive a fair number of cross looks from the Hufflepuffs, they all kept their words to themselves. ' _Huh…maybe my little speech last night actually worked.'_

Once he and his friends had taken their seats, the conversations in the hall picked up once again as everyone returned to their own little worlds. After scooping a small amount of food onto his plate, Harry reached into his robes and pulled out the small note that Daphne had slipped him. "What's that?" Ginny asked lowly enough so that they were the only two who could hear her.

"Something Daphne slipped me out in the hall." He whispered back as he tried to discreetly open and read the note.

 _'Harry – Be mindful of yourself this year. A fair majority of the Slytherins, led by the blonde prick himself, are trying to come up with any number of ways to sabotage you this year. Even going so far as to attempt to make you fail to appear to a task. Also, be wary of-'_

Feeling a familiar presence wash over him, Harry looked up just as Ginny, Ron and Hermione all looked up as well. "Show time." Harry smirked as he turned towards the open doors.

The entire hall quieted as some of the students began shiver involuntarily. Up at the head table Dumbledore's brow furrowed as he rose from his seat and stared at the doors. Slowly, the sound of heels clicking against the stone floor began to echo as all conversations in the hall slowly came to an end.

"-assure you Madam! We are doing everything we can! Please understand that we at the Ministry are-"

A collective gasp went through the hall as Harry's mother stepped into the hall with the bumbling Minister of Magic pleading next to her. A step behind them was Madam Bones and Sirius.

Harry nearly shook his head in mirth as he saw his mother. She had certainly spared no expense as she was wearing the same type of outfit that she did when they assaulted the _Dauntless_ in order to save Ahsoka. "You're assurances ring hollow Minister." His mother growled as she continued to walk down the rows of students, completely ignoring the awestruck looks she was receiving from the students in the Great Hall.

"Good Merlin." He heard Seamus whisper to Dean. "Major WILS alert! She just made the top of my 'Witches I'd Like to Shag' list!"

"I hear you." Dean whispered back, as a few of the boys near to them nodded. "But…who is she?"

Rising to his feet, Harry spared his two dorm mates a cold glare before turning towards his mother. "Mother." He greeted, making most of the hall gasped as he bent his head slightly.

"Harry." His mother greeted him back before reaching out and laying a hand along his jawline. "Are you alright my son?"

His mother rarely showed him much physical affection, so the few times she did he reveled in it. Even if he was standing in the midst of all of his fellow classmates. "I'm alright mother."

"Madam Nox." Dumbledore's grandfather-like voice called out, making the two of them break contact and turn towards the Headmaster who'd managed to cross half the distance between them and the head table. "I expected you to at least call, but I must admit that I hadn't expected to see you so soon after the Prophet was sent out."

That was the only reason why his mother hadn't come earlier. She wanted to wait until the Daily Prophet, which told of his entry into the tournament on the front page, was already delivered. Less chance of the old man finding out they had a means of communication other than Hedwig.

"And why would I hesitate Headmaster?" His mother asked, the edges of her green eyes tinting slightly yellow for the briefest of moments before reverting. "This is the second time that my son's life has been placed in danger under your watch."

A low rumble started up in the hall as all of the students began whispering to one another. Despite the whispers though, Dumbledore remained completely neutral. "I understand your concern Madam Nox. Believe me, I share them as well. But perhaps this would be a conversation best held in privacy of my office."

"Of course." His mother nodded. "But the other champions and their respective school leaders should accompany us as well. After all, this conversation concerns them as well. And the Ministry officials will be coming as well. And Auror Moody, as I suspect he will have more than one theory to add."

Dumbledore looked like he wanted to argue, but seeing as they were in such a public setting he obviously decided against it. "Of course. Headmaster Karkaroff. Headmistress Maxime. Would you please collect your champions and follow us to my office. Minister, Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman if you will please follow us. Cedric my boy, come along as well."

It took a minute, but soon enough Dumbledore was leading all of them down the corridors of Hogwarts with Moody tagging along after them as well. As they walked, Harry concentrated on his mental link with his mother so he could discreetly pass on the information to her that Daphne had given him.

 _'Are you sure my son?'_

 _'Daphne is mother. And I trust her.'_

Before his mother could respond, Dumbledore led them into a dead-end hallway with a gargoyle statue at the end. As they walked, the gargoyle moved on its own, rising upwards and revealing the winding stairway that led up into the Headmaster's office. The stairway could only be taken one at a time, but the office at end was more than spacious enough for all of them to spread out.

"Now that we are all here," Dumbledore sighed tiredly as he stepped around behind his desk and sank down into his seat. "We can begin."

"Yes," Nox nodded as she glared at those who were supposed to be in charge of the tournament. "Perhaps you can explain how my son was illegally entered into a tournament as a fourth participant when there were only supposed to be three."

"Alastor has been examining the goblet since the incident last night." Dumbledore explained while waving towards the Defense Professor. "Alastor, would you please report your findings."

"It was bloody masterpiece," Moody grumbled as he took out his hip flask and took a quick pull. "Whoever did this knew what they were doing. They used multiple _confundus_ charms to temporarily overwrite the runic array of the goblet. Because of that, the goblet thought that it was choosing for four schools instead of three. And Potter here was the only name entered under the fourth school. Like I said…bloody work of art."

And what of Mr. Potter's reaction when he rejected his position?" Amelia asked while glaring at the three Headmasters. "It was my understanding that the tying of one's life to the tournament was removed from the goblet."

"It was." Madam Maxime nodded. "Whoever altered the goblet to add Mr. Potter must've removed the block we placed on that stipulation as well."

"Excuse me," Cedric mumbled, his face going steadily paler. "Are you telling us…that if for some reason we can't participate in a task then we will…die? I thought you all just said that to keep the younger years from trying to enter!"

"I'm afraid so Cedric." Dumbledore confirmed sadly. "But rest assured, we will be making sure that all four of you are able to compete in the assigned tasks."

"Your assurances have rung rather hollow as of late Dumbledore." Nox growled before shaking her head. "But since you all have failed so spectacularly in this matter, I'm going to take advantage of it."

"Madam Nox?" Fudge stuttered, no doubt suddenly fearful for his job. Understandable seeing as how he needed this tournament to go smoothly to try and save face after the attack last year by the dementors on Hogsmeade.

"One stipulation of this tournament was that only those of age could compete, correct?" Nox asked rhetorically. "Therefore I expect my son to be declared of age and emancipated by the end of the day. And the trace on his wand is to be removed as well."

Fudge looked like they swallowed something incredibly sour. But in the end they had no choice and Fudge reluctantly nodded. "As you say."

"Good." His mother nodded before turning to Dumbledore. "Also, as my son has neither the experience nor training of these three," Harry almost blew it by laughing at that. "He will be allowed to Floo home every Friday after he is done with his classes and return every Sunday evening. I will be arranging private tutors during these days to further his education beyond what is taught here at Hogwarts."

This time it was Dumbledore's turn to look like he'd eaten something distasteful. "I'm afraid that I can't do that Madam Nox. Despite his soon-to-be status, he is still a student without his OWLs and therefore must remain at Hogwarts save for the holidays."

Nox didn't even hesitate before turning back towards Moody. "Tell me, Mr. Moody. As my son was not entered under Hogwarts, which school was he entered under?"

Moody stared at her curiously for a moment before laughing out loud. "I'm afraid she's got you on this one Albus." Moody laughed. "The school he was entered didn't have a name."

"And why should that matter?" Karkaroff scoffed.

"Because if this stipulation isn't met," Nox said glaring at Dumbledore. "Then I shall withdraw my son from Hogwarts and enter him into the school he was entered into the Tournament under. And seeing as how that school doesn't have a name…I can make one up. I imagine that it would be quite the headline. 'Minister and Chief Warlock's Incompetence Causes Boy-Who-Lived to Leave Magical Britain'. Quite the scandal."

"Harry will be able to leave for private studying over the weekend Madam Nox." Minister Fudge said quickly before Dumbledore could get a word in edgewise. "I'll even write up and educational decree for it if need be."

All eyes turned towards Dumbledore, who in turn sighed dejectedly. "You have me in a corner Madam Nox. Very well…I will allow Harry to Floo home every weekend for private studying. But only Harry. His friends must stay in school."

"Of course," his mother nodded with a smile. "Now tell me. What is being done to catch the one who entered my son into the tournament?"

"We are currently questioning everyone who had access to the goblet before it was transferred to Hogwarts." Crouch answered. "As well as anyone who might wish to see harm come to young Mr. Potter. But unfortunately it will take some time before we learn anything of note."

"I see," his mother sighed, shifting her body slightly. "Then I guess it once again falls to me to clean up the mess."

Snapping her wand into her wand, his mother slashed it across her body. There was a single cry of alarm before a body slammed heavily against the wall of the office. Flicking her wand back towards her person, the body then flew across the room before sliding on the floor and coming to a stop as Nox planted her foot against the neck of Barty Crouch Sr.

The moment his mother started moving, Harry drew his own wand and turned so he was back to back with his mother ready to defend her. Sirius had also moved, drawing his own wand and standing with them. But it looked as if they needn't have even bothered as by the time his mother had Crouch under her heel, the only ones who even managed to react in time were Moody and Dumbledore. Who both were on their feet and had their wands drawn and pointed at the two of them.

Waving her wand over the struggling Crouch under her heel, his wand a small flask floated up from within his robe and into her open hand. Popping the top on the flask, his mother took a single whiff before closing it once more and tossing it over to Moody. "I believe I captured your culprit."

Catching the flask with one hand, Moody kept his wand trained on the three of them as he popped the top and took a sniff. The moment he did his eyes widened and he moved his wand from them to Crouch. "Polyjuice." He cursed. "Bloody bastard was under our nose this whole time."

The moment Moody moved his wand, every other wand in the room shifted from Harry and his mother to the man under her heel. "When was the last time he drank anything?" Amelia asked staring at Dumbledore.

"Just a few moments ago at breakfast." The Headmaster answered while glaring down at the man. "I'll send for Severus to bring us the reversal potion. But it will take some time for-"

"There's no need." His mother countered with a slight smirk. "There is a much simpler, not to mention much more satisfying, way to reverse the potion."

Lifting her foot, she brought it back down hard right into the imposters gut. The imposter immediately doubled up and curled into the fetal position before throwing up everything that'd been in his stomach. Once he stopped, his body started convulsing as his physical features began to shift. "See?" His mother said, smiling at the horror-stricken faces in the room. "Much simpler."

The only one who hadn't been disturbed by the display, besides Harry, Sirius and Amelia, had been Moody. The old Auror merely watched before laughing. "Bloody hell I like this one." His laughter died however as the man on the floor stopped convulsing. He still looked somewhat the same, but he was at least twenty or more years younger than Crouch. "Barty bloody Crouch Jr." Moody growled.

"That's impossible!" Fudge gasped, staring down at the man. "He's– he's dead! He died in Azkaban years ago!"

"Well, seeing as how he's currently lying in a puddle of his own vomit before us, apparently he didn't." His mother said shaking her head and stomping her foot down onto Crouch Jr's back to keep him from moving.

"I believe it is time for our champions to depart." Dumbledore said stepping around his desk. "They need not be present for this."

"With respect Headmaster," Cedric said quickly, surprising everyone. "This man…this Death Eater who's supposed to be dead. Went through a lot of trouble to enter Harry into this tournament and to keep him in it. I believe that all of us, Fleur, Viktor and myself, deserve to know why."

Both Fleur and Viktor nodded in agreement. Dumbledore stared hard at the three older champions, but none of them budged. "Very well," Dumbledore sighed after realizing they weren't going to leave. "Madam Bones. May I suggest that you send someone over to the Crouch Estate? If his son was impersonating him, I fear that Barty Sr. is in great peril."

"Hehe…you're too late old man." Crouch Jr. cackled, freezing everyone in place. "The moment I was discovered…my father died. Quick and painless. Far more than that old bastard deserved. But I paid him back for turning on me all those years ago. Hehehe…yes…he paid…"

Using her foot to flip the man over onto his back, his mother conjured a rather uncomfortable looking chair before banishing Crouch into it. As soon as his body touched the chair multiple straps extended from the back before wrapping around his body as if they had a mind of its own. "Don't you think that is a little…excessive Madam Nox?" Fudge asked nervously as his eyes flickered back and forth between the bound Crouch and Harry's mother.

"Surely you're not denying a mother her due are you Minister?" Nox asked sweetly. "After all…this is the same man who entered my son into a dangerous tournament against his will."

"Perhaps it would be for the best if I took over from here Madam Nox." Amelia said stepping forward. "A formal interrogation and trial will be conducted later. But for the sake of the law I must insist on taking the lead on the questioning from here on out."

Nox glared at Amelia, but Harry knew that it was just an act. His mother and Amelia were hardly ever at odds with one another unless it was planned that way. "Very well," Nox conceded, stepping back so that Amelia could take her place.

Once she was standing before the bound man, Sirius and Moody stepped up so both men were flanking her. Harry had to admit, the three did present a pretty imposing picture. "Now, Mr. Crouch." Amelia began. "Let us begin by you-"

"This is all pointless." Crouch Jr. laughed. "You want to know why I entered Harry into the tournament? Then let me tell you. I entered him in for the sake of my Master."

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is dead!" Fudge shouted, his face going extremely pale at the implication.

Throwing his head back, Crouch let off a crackling laugh. "My Master is the most powerful Dark Lord since the time of Morgana! He has mastered death itself. And by the end of this tournament his greatest nemesis Harry Potter will be dead. And my Master will have his vengeance! And he will bring me back to serve at his side once more! And all those who dared to turn their backs on him or stand against him will feel his wrath!"

Harry felt a slight warning from the Force as Crouch clicked his teeth together hard. His mother was the only one to react to the motion as she shouldered past Amelia and the others. "Don't let him swallow!" She shouted as she grabbed his head and tried to pry open his jaw.

Her actions proved futile however as Crouch started convulsing in his chair while white foam started to seep out of his mouth. Within a few seconds it was over and Barty Crouch Jr. was dead.

"Shit." Nox cursed as she stepped away from the corpse.

"W-what? What happened?" Fudge stammered, holding a hand to his mouth as he started to look more than slightly queasy.

"Poison." Moody grumbled, pushing the dead man's head back. "You see this with deeply imbedded muggle spies. They'll usually have fake tooth or something that's filled with poison. Should they be captured they break the container and release the poison to kill themselves in order to prevent them from revealing any information. Crude. But effective."

The entire office was cast in silence as they all stared at the dead man. "He believed that the Dark Lord is still alive." Madam Maxime said, breaking the silence as she turned towards Dumbledore and Fudge. "Why? And why has the French Ministry not been made aware of such developments?"

"He isn't alive!" Fudge nearly shouted. "He died thirteen years ago and that is the end of it!"

"Magic is a wonderful and mysterious thing Minister." Dumbledore said sagely. "As much as we know about magic, there is just as much that we don't and even more than has been forgotten. Perhaps, it would be best to err on the side of caution in this case."

Fudge went completely red. "You-Know-Who is dead!"

"His body was never actually recovered from the scene of his demise Minister." Amelia countered. "Perhaps the Headmaster is right and it would be best to err on the side of caution in this case. If we tread carefully we can even do this without raising public suspicion."

Harry rolled his eyes as Dumbledore, Maxime, Amelia and Fudge entered a four way argument as they all but ignored everyone else in the room. Looking across the office, Harry took careful note of Karkaroff. The ex-Death Eater looked like someone had just walked over his grave. Which considering the things Harry heard he did to avoid Azkaban, mainly by ratting out of his fellow Death Eaters, he could understand why the man would be nervous. 'Still. I'm going to need to try and keep an eye on him this year; even more so now that it's been confirmed that Voldemort is the mastermind behind all of this.'

"-no! I refuse to listen to this!" Fudge nearly screamed. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is dead! Tomorrow in the paper the story will be told that one of his followers escaped Azkaban and entered Harry into the tournament to try and get revenge for his Master. That is all! Anyone, and I mean anyone who says that You-Know-Who is behind this will be indicted form inciting a riot! And that is the end of it!"

 _"The man is a complete and utter fool."_ Harry heard his mother's voice in his head.

 _"Perhaps it would be for the best if we were to take him out and place Amelia in as the Minister of Magic sooner than we thought."_ Harry thought back draw a feeling of surprise from his mother. _"He's moving from a pain in the ass to a liability. Refusing to even think of erring on the side of caution makes him unworthy of being Minister of Magic."_

" _You're right of course my son."_ She sent back. _"This will be his last term in office. Come next summer he will be removed. One way or another."_

"Very well then Minister Fudge." Madam Maxime growled, drawing herself up to her full height. "But I will be informing the French Ministry of these developments. And I guarantee that they be expecting answers. Come Fleur."

Fleur managed to spare him one last encouraging nod before she followed after her Headmistress. Karkaroff and Krum were right behind the two of them. Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, Karkaroff remained silent. Once the foreign students and their Headmaster and Headmistress were out of the office, Fudge turned towards Dumbledore. "You will not be informing any of your students beyond these two about what happened here today. If you do then I will issue an educational decree removing you from your position."

Dumbledore sighed but nodded nonetheless. "As you wish Minister. But I do hope that you will reconsider your stance before it is too late for us all."

"There is nothing to reconsider." Fudge growled before turning to Amelia. "Madam Bones. Collect the body for disposal at the Ministry. And for Merlin's sake shrink it down or something. I want this whole mess kept under wraps. We've already had two breakouts from Azkaban. If people learn that someone else had broken out years ago then the people will lose faith in our ability to protect them."

Without waiting to see if his orders were being followed or not, Fudge marched over to the fireplace, threw a handful of Floo powder into it, and was walking through the green flames before they were even fully developed. "Well," Sirius sighed shaking his head. "That probably could've gone over better. Need any help with the body Amelia?"

"Thank you for volunteering Sirius." Amelia said over her shoulder while still staring at the fireplace the Minister had disappeared through. "Shrink it and pocket it and bring it down the coroner's office. I have paperwork that I need to get too."

"Right, wait– what?" Sirius gaped as Amelia activated the Floo and marched through without a second look back.

"Hehe, serves ya right lad." Moody chuckled as he pulled out his wand and waved it at Crouch, who shifted into a small chess piece. "Now I'd get your arse moving lad. Amelia's not one you want on your bad side."

"Don't I know it." Sirius grumbled as he picked up the chess piece and made his way towards the Floo. "See you soon Harry." He threw over his shoulder before walking through the still active Floo after Amelia.

Now with it just being the five of them, Dumbledore sighed and made his way back to his chair. "Alastor. Will you please see Mr. Diggory back down to the Great Hall? I need to have a word with Harry and his…mother."

"Sure Albus." Moody nodded before motioning for Cedric. "Come on lad. I must say, you handled yourself well back there. You drew your wand when it was appropriate and he didn't balk too much when Crouch Jr there offed himself."

Once Cedric and Moody were out of the office, Dumbledore motioned for Harry and his mother to take a seat across from him. "Please, sit. I can see that you both have questions."

" _What's he playing at mother?"_

" _More than likely he's fishing to try and find out what we know."_ His mother answered back as she took one of the offered seats. _"I want you to lead off this conversation Harry. Ask him if he thinks Voldemort is alive first and if he's figured out just how Voldemort managed to cheat death."_

"Yes sir I do." Harry nodded while taking the other seat. "Crouch…he said that he entered my name into the tournament on behalf of his Master. I– I know he's still alive sir because I saw his wrath in my first year. I guess…I want to know how he's still alive sir."

"Ah," Dumbledore sighed, leaning back in his seat. "As to that Harry…I'm afraid that I cannot say for certain. As I told Minister Fudge, there is much magic in the world. Most of which we have no hope of comprehending."

 _"He's lying."_ His mother told him, not that he needed her too. _"He knows something, he's just afraid to admit it."_

" _Or maybe he honestly doesn't know."_ Harry thought back.

" _Possibly. But if that were the case then I fear that we would have another problem on our hands. Because that would mean that Dumbledore is not as clever as we'd hoped. And while he might not have any true place in our future…I would still like to use him as an ally against Voldemort."_

Licking his lips, Harry met Dumbledore's gaze head on, almost daring the old Headmaster to try and probe his mind. "Why me sir?" He asked. "Why is Voldemort constantly targeting me?"

Sighing once again, Dumbledore's eyes flickered momentarily back and forth between Harry and his mother before settling once again on Harry. "I'm afraid Harry…" Dumbledore started before hesitating obviously thinking of how to answer his question. "There was a prophecy Harry. Made just before you were born. It foretold of the fall of the Dark Lord at the hands of a child that would be born at the end of the seven month to those who'd thrice defied him."

Harry was actually kind of shocked that Dumbledore admitted it. And judging by what he was feeling through the bond with his mother, she was surprised as well. Not shocked. But she definitely wasn't expecting it. "Now whether or not this prophecy is true or not, or whether it even pertains to Voldemort doesn't matter. What does matter is that Voldemort believes that it does. And that is why he went after you and your parents all those years ago Harry."

"We'd like to see the prophecy." His mother said quickly, drawing Dumbledore's gaze to her. "Prophecies are fickle things. They can be interpreted a hundred different ways without ever being interpreted correctly. But I feel that once we see the prophecy in full we might be able to glean an insight into Voldemort's mind and we could better prepare Harry for what is to come."

Harry was more than slightly amazed at the way his mother backed Dumbledore into a corner. Dumbledore couldn't outright deny their request as it was actually reasonable. _"Nicely done mother."_

 _"Of course son. This isn't my first time manipulating old fools. I had the Dark Council wrapped around my fingers within days of taking my seat on it."_

Eyes flickering back and forth between the two of them, Harry almost felt bad as he watched Dumbledore wilt in front of them. "I'm afraid that that is no longer possible." Dumbledore sighed. "A day after the prophecy was made, it was agreed upon by the Minister of Magic and myself that it would be best if no copy were to remain in the Hall of Prophecies. And the sphere containing the prophecy was destroyed."

"I see." His mother nodded, before narrowing her eyes at Dumbledore. "Then tell us how it is that Voldemort came to know of this prophecy? Seeing as how you know of its existence and some of its contents I take it that you are the one that heard it. And a seer does not remember the contents of their own prophecies. And while I am reasonably sure that you wouldn't divulge the contents after admitting to going through a lot of trouble to destroy the only hard copy…that leaves only one other explanation."

Taking off his glasses, Dumbledore rubbed tiredly at his eyes. "To my utmost shame, I fear that I share some of the blame. The prophecy was spoken to me in a hotel room without prompt and caught me completely unaware. Unfortunately…a Death Eater just happened to see me in the street and followed me. It was this same Death Eater who heard part of prophecy and reported it back to Voldemort."

Harry felt his hands tightening into fists as the candles in the room flickered ever so slightly. "Who was it?"

Dumbledore actually seemed somewhat startled by his reaction. "What good would it do you to know my boy? It is in the past."

Harry's fists were squeezed so tightly that he felt his nails puncturing his palms. "Because if this Death Eater isn't already in Azkaban…then I'm going to hunt them down and kill them."

"Violence begets violence my boy." Dumbledore lectured, staring over the rim of his glasses.

Slamming his hands against the arms of his chair, Harry shot to his feet and glared at Dumbledore. One of those responsible for the death of his parents was almost his. And like hell was he going to let this chance slip away from him. "And all that evil needs to flourish is for good men to do nothing. Who. Told. Voldemort."

A high pitched cry echoed from above them as a red and gold mass of feathers settled down onto the desk between Harry and Dumbledore. The phoenix took one look at Harry, then swiveled his head back towards Dumbledore before turning back to Harry. As it did, the bird began to sing. And as it sung Harry felt his anger and frustrations slowly leaving him as the magic of the phoenix song did its work. "Cheeky bird." Harry growled, dropping back into his seat with a much clearer head.

"Fawkes is even more upset with me at the moment my boy." Dumbledore sighed. Then as if to prove his point, Fawkes scooted across the desk closer towards Harry. "In time I will tell you all Harry. But not today."

"Then I believe that is all for today." His mother said rising to her feet. "Come Harry. We have training to get too."

"Harry cannot leave." Dumbledore said rising to his feet.

"Yes he can." His mother countered back while motioning for him to join her. "In case it slipped your mind, today is Saturday. And the Minister himself said that I am allowed to take Harry back to his home during the weekend to train."

Dumbledore frowned. "He still has the trace on his wand."

"Then we'll be stopping at Ollivander's first then." His mother shot back while grabbing a fist full of floo powder and saying 'Grimmauld Place' before tossing the powder into the fireplace. "He'll be back on Sunday." She announced before making her way towards the green fire.

"Madam Nox." Dumbledore called out, halting the two of them in their tracks. "I am not your enemy here. I am only trying to do what is best for Harry."

"As am I Dumbledore." His mother shot back. "The only difference is…I actually love my son. And will do anything to ensure that he lives to see tomorrow. Come on Harry, after hearing about this whole debacle yesterday I lined up a whole slew of new teachers for you. I'm sure that you're going to enjoy their lessons."


	11. Chapter 11

**Well here we are everyone! Another chapter! Once again I must apologize if I did not get to your reviews…my home computer is still being worked on, they actually had to send it out. So I do a lot of my computer work at work…and can't really use a work computer for FFnet Good thing a manufacture's warranty lasts for a year.**

 **So, just want to say this before I get any angry reviews. The tournament will proceed like it did in the books, however with several modifications as will be become evident in this chapter. I promise you all though, stick with me and things will be diverging completely from the cannon plot soon enough.**

 **I want to thank everyone that reviewed, altered or add this story to your favorites! Your support is what keeps me going!**

 **Now onto some not so good news. This might be the last chapter I post until the start of the New Year. The reasoning for this is 1)work 2)the holidays 3)family 4)computer being out of commission. This story will not be abandoned I promise you all that. I'm having way too much fun with it. I might be able to squeeze a chapter in before the end of the year, but I don't want to make that promise and disappoint you all.**

 **And lastly, just a big thank you to my two beta readers HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon. Thank you guys so much for your continued help!**

 **Chapter 11**

Letting her fingers idly run up and down the curves of her lover's body, Nox stared out the balcony window in her room at the night sky beyond, her mind far away from the beautiful figure lying next to her. Her restlessness wasn't caused by the fact that her son had been entered into a "dangerous" tournament. A notion she had to laugh at. Even looking at past records, this tournament was only barely on par with what the Overseers on Korriban would put their Acolytes through. No. Her Harry would be able to walk through this tournament. But even with that reassurance, her mind would not rest.

The Ministry, no doubt under the influence of certain individuals within its ranks, had been dragging its feet to grant Harry his emancipated status. His wand had been cleared of the Trace by Ollivander with hardly a second glance. But each time she brought up the subject of Harry's Lordship, Fudge began stuttering while claiming that he was working on it and that such emancipation and Lordship status had never been granted to one so young. It was a lie, but it was a lie that Fudge was sticking to, thanks to the money Lucius was pouring into his pockets. A little tidbit sent her way by Narcissa.

Then there was the whole debacle with House Crouch. After Junior's death Amelia had sent a team of Aurors to the family manor. As expected Crouch Sr. was found dead on the floor; his eyes staring up lifelessly at the ceiling above him. He'd been dead for hours. Fudge wanted Sr's death to be classified as a suicide and the matter to be dropped. But Nox and Amelia were both convinced Crouch Sr had some help leaving this life. Although Fudge, in his ignorance wanted the case closed that didn't stop Amelia from investigating though. No. Nox had chosen her allies well and the next day Amelia had contacted a few retired Aurors that she trusted to start digging discreetly into the case.

Then there was the revelations of the clones that also weighed on her mind. Rex, as he preferred to be called, had told them all of the discovery of one called Fives. Of the control chips that were implanted into all of the clones' brains while they were still fetuses growing on Kamino.

It was the final piece of the puzzle that they'd all been missing. And now that she could sit back and analyze it all, she had to give this new Sith Emperor a grudging amount of respect. The man's plan had been absolutely perfect, obviously so seeing how it'd worked. The man had spent decades refining this plan. A plan that she was sure had passed through more than one generation of this "Rule of Two" Sith. And while he might've not been the one who originated the plan, he'd been the one to modify it and see it through. He'd spent decades to see it through. _'Which means that I have to be careful and meticulous when we go back. Sidious, while not as powerful as Vitiate, is just as cunning and patient. Let's just hope that he doesn't discover the ritual that Vitiate used or we will all be well and truly fucked when we go back.'_

But even that revelation was not what kept her mind from resting. No. The true reason for her restlessness was the Shroud that surrounded this world. It was getting weaker faster than she'd originally anticipated. _'The Jedi's arrival has hastened the degradation of the Shroud. That's the only explanation I have.'_

Before they left Earth Nox theorized that they had roughly two decades until the Shroud was gone. And when they'd come back she'd tested the Shroud again and came up with the same answer. But after checking the Shroud a few days prior…they would be lucky get half that amount of time before the Shroud was gone. She checked her test twice a day over the next several days and kept coming up with the same results. _'And in that time, the only thing that has changed is the presence of the Jedi on Earth. But why? Why has their presence altered the Shroud so much?'_

A sleepy voice brought her back from her restless mind. "You're still awake? I thought I would've tired you out by now. Morgana knows I tired myself out."

Feeling the corners of her lips twitch upwards, Nox leaned down and pressed her lips against Nymphadora's bare shoulder. "You've become quite an adept lover Nymphadora. But I'm afraid that you still have quite a ways to go until you'll be able to wear me out."

"Damn. Well at least I have fun trying anyway." Nymphadora chuckled before rolling over so they could see eye to eye. "But something is bothering you Ziri. And don't try to deny it. I've shared your bed long enough to know when something is wearing heavily on your mind."

"Oh, so you're an expert on me now just because we've fucked huh?" Nox smirked, then even smiled wider as Tonks blushed.

"Don't do that!"

"What?"

"Trying to change the subject." Tonks responded while sitting upright in bed and letting the thin sheet fall to her waist. "There's something bothering you. So spill it."

Sighing, Nox slipped out from their bed and made her way over towards the open balcony door letting the cool night air kiss her bare skin. "The degradation of the Shroud has…increased substantially." She said after staring out over the moonlit ocean.

Behind her, Tonks cursed under breath. "How long do we have?"

"Not long," Nox admitted. "A decade or less. Maybe a year two beyond on the outside if we're lucky."

Hearing the sheets rustling behind her as Tonks got out of bed, Nox kept her gaze out on the ocean. "So what are we going to do?"

"We're going to have to accelerate our timetable." Nox cursed. If there was one thing she hated, it was having to accelerate her plans. That one thing caused the downfall of more Sith than she cared to mention. "By this time next year Fudge will be out of office and Amelia will be the new Minister of Magic."

"About damn time. Although I think you're going to need to use a summoning charm to get Fudge's nose out of Malfoy's arse." Tonks laughed. "And what do you need me to do."

"Something that you're not going to like." Nox sighed before turning around so she was facing Tonks. "I need you to leave the Auror corps."

Instead of reacting like Nox half expected her too, Tonks only sighed and nodded her head. "I had a feeling that this was going to happen sooner or later. And I'm actually not too broken up about it either. The department has become rather boring ever since Moody was forced into retirement. So…where am I going now?"

Disengaging herself from Nymphadora, Nox made her way over to vanity in the room and activated one of the many runic-hologram stones that were littered across its surface. "This is one of our new facilities," she explained as a fairly ordinary looking office building came into view. "But unlike our others, this one has a specific purpose. Equipping and training our Wolf Guard, our mercenaries and any other troops we might acquire."

"How did you manage that?" Nymphadora asked. "I can't imagine that too many world governments were thrilled with the prospect of the richest woman in the world suddenly forming her own private army."

"Well that's easy to answer. They don't know. The top layer of this facility is nothing more than a research and development facility. The actual training facility is underground." Deactivating the hologram, Nox turned to Nymphadora. "Next week I'm sending you, Rex, Gregor, Wolffe, Shaak Ti and Maris to this facility to oversee its completion."

Tonks blinked at her. "Okay. I can understand the clones being in the army and all. But why Shaak Ti and her apprentice? From what I've heard, she hasn't necessarily taken to the Guardian way of life as well as the others."

"Her hesitance to fully accept the Guardian's way of life isn't a concern of mine." Nox said dismissively. "But during the Clone Wars she was assigned a task that makes her invaluable to us at the moment. She was in charge of overseeing the training of all clone troopers before they were assigned to active duty."

Tonks thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Alright. That makes sense. But then…why me?"

"Because I trust you Nymphadora. The only one I trust more is my son." She said simply, making Tonks blush. "While you are there you will be teaching Shaak Ti and Maris magic. And you will also be acting as my eyes, ears and voice."

By now, Tonks was flushed from head to toe. "I– whoa…" She murmured. "Not that I'm not grateful, because trust me I am. But…why me? Why not Remus or Aela? Or even Sirius? And what about the other Jedi that came with you?"

"Remus and Aela will be joining you with our first batch of potential Wolf Guard members once the facility is completed. And besides, those two are completely enamored and busy with their new adoptive son Luke." Nox explained. "And Sirius has another task that he's been working on for me. Tracking down any Squibs that'd been disowned by their families or any muggleborns that've left the wizarding world out of resentment.

"As for the other Jedi…Ahsoka is just now beginning to delve into the dark side. For one whose whole life has been spent in the light, the first touches of the dark side are difficult for the unprepared. The older ones can handle themselves. But I need to keep a watch on Ahsoka for the time being. At least while she doesn't have Harry around to anchor her that is. And where she goes Nat does as well, so Nat will be staying here as well.

"As for the others? I don't presume to tell Master Yoda what to do. As amazing as this is for me to say, I respect the little bugger far too much for that. But from what I've seen he prefers to spend his days in the library or meditating in the light meditation chamber that he requested to be added. I also need the Mareks as they are now raising their own son and little Luke while Remus and Aela are away for the day. Aayla is a possibility, but she, much like Obi-Wan, will be an asset in training Harry and the others. As for Asajj and Quinlan. Those two are free spirits and I doubt I'll be able to tie them down here on Earth for long. A trait that I'm going to be exploiting."

"How?" Tonks asked, tilting her head to the side.

"With the Shroud falling, it lessens the time we have until the Empire finds us." She explained. "So if we can't keep them from sensing us, we need to stall them from attempting to find us. So I'm going to be sending those two out with three primary objectives. First, to find any wayward Jedi that will be amiable to our cause. Second, to harass the Empire as much as possible. A task that I'm sure they will have no problem with. And third, to scout out potential allies in the greater galaxy for when we make our move."

Tonks stared at her with wide eyes. "Whoa…that's…Merlin's saggy balls. How long did it take you to come up with that plan?"

"It's always been my plan," Nox admitted, walking up to Tonks and wrapping her arms around her. "I just keep altering it based on our current situation. Now that's enough talking…all this planning has reawaken a certain…itch that I need you to scratch right now."

Tonks grinned as she wrapped her arms around Nox in return. "Hm…I love it when you get these…'itches'. Just…try and make sure that I can walk right this time. Last time it was more than a little embarrassing having to explain to Amelia why I was walking bowlegged and couldn't sit right for a week!"

* * *

Standing in the observation deck of the training hall with Masters Ti, Secura and Yoda, Obi-Wan, former Jedi Master and now Guardian Master, watched as Harry Potter, Knight of the Guardians and son of the Grandmaster Nox, made his way through the ever changing maze below. This test, or training as Master Nox called it, was far beyond anything he'd seen even the most senior of the Jedi Masters participate in. And he was succeeding!

The boy was blindfolded and forced to only use his senses to guide him through the ever changing layout as various platforms raised and lowered themselves seemingly at random. While he tried to navigate the terrain, Rex, Gregor and Wolfe were all stationed up on perches scattered across the training room taking shots at the boy, each of which he managed to deflect with his lightsaber. Then as an added twist, Asajj and Quinlan were both in the maze as well making runs at him. There were no entrance or exit to the maze. And Harry's only test was to last as long as he could. And considering that he was going on his second hour and still seemed to be in pretty good shape…Obi-Wan was far beyond impressed.

"He's quite impressive, is he not?" Master Ti asked from beside him.

"He is indeed," Obi-Wan nodded without turning his eyes away from the spectacle below him.

It wasn't just the boy's martial prowess that were impressive either. He was an incredibly attentive pupil and a remarkably quick study even by Jedi standards. After only two hours of training under Rex, he was able to completely disassemble and reassemble a blaster rifle back to pristine condition. He also soaked up any lessons Obi-Wan had for him within minutes. Even when he assigned him an incredibly complex task that would take any other Jedi padawan hours or even days to complete, he could do them with little to no hesitancy.

"Strong in the Force, young Potter is." Master Yoda hummed. "Touched by the Father, he was. Even stronger because of this, he is."

Nodding, Obi-Wan winced slightly as he watched Harry suffered a brutal assault by Asajj which sent him spiraling into a nearby platform with enough force to actually leave a dent in the stone. But amazingly enough, Harry was able to roll back up to his feet and respond with a Force push of his own to get Asajj away from him.

"You actually saw this happen Master Yoda?" Obi-Wan asked, turning his attention away from Harry and to Master Yoda.

It wasn't that Obi-Wan doubted Yoda, far from it. In fact, Yoda was probably the one being he trusted above all others in the galaxy. It was just…he watched the Father die. And the events leading up to that moment on Mortis were permanently scarred into his memories.

"Hmm. Watched from the shadows, the two of them I did. Lectured him, the Father did. Then touched him, passed some of his knowledge along into young Harry, the Father has."

The three Masters fell into a comfortable silence after that, intent on just watching the young man last for another thirty minutes before he finally started to show signs of slowing. "He reminds me of Anakin." Obi-Wan said, watching as the young man refused to give up as he got back to his feet. "He's just as powerful, and just as stubborn. Only there's a sense of control within Harry that Anakin lacked."

"What happened to Skywalker was not your fault, Master Kenobi." Master Ti said, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. "He fell victim to the Emperor. Just as we all did."

An uneasy silence replaced the comfortable one, and Obi-Wan found himself cursing at his own blunder of bringing up Anakin again. _'I cannot change the past. I can only hope to create a better future.'_

Another hour passed by before Harry finally fell down to one knee out of exhaustion. A thunderous boom, which he'd come to recognize as a cannon blast charm echoed as Master Nox appeared from thin air next to the young man and knelt down next to him. Even from this distance, he could see her hand glowing slightly as she used the Force to heal the worst of Harry's injuries.

"So much has been lost." Master Ti lamented as she watched the healing aura emanating out from Nox's outstretched palm. "The holocrons that are here…they contain so much. It will take a millennia to properly sort through them all."

Obi-Wan barely managed to keep himself from grinning. Master Ti's statement was made in jest he was sure. But he was also sure that she was attempting to get through as many of the holocrons as possible during her lifetime. The only person who spent more time in the impressive library of books and holocrons than Master Ti was Mallie. And she was the Temple's Librarian for all intents and purposes.

Down below them, Harry had managed to regain his footing and was now surrounded by his mother, Ahsoka, her Apprentice Nat, Master Ti's Apprentice Maris, Asajj, Quinlan as well as Rex. All of them were listening as Nox lectured, taking time to demonstrate a point every now and then.

As he watched, Obi-Wan felt his eyes drift towards Ahsoka. He hadn't been lying when he said that this world was agreeing with her. The last time he'd seen her so…vibrant had been when he'd first met her when she told him and a thoroughly confused Anakin that she'd been sent to be Anakin's Padawan. It warmed his heart to see the girl that he'd come to careful that'd been through so much hardship start to enjoy life again. And a big part of that was because of the young man standing by her side.

An outside observer have to be blind not to see the attraction between the two. And now that Obi-Wan thought about it, the looks the two sent each other were the same type of looks that often passed back and forth between Anakin and Padme. Which of course led him to question as to how he'd missed their relationship for so long. Looking back at it now…it was beyond obvious.

A part of Obi-Wan that was still fully ingrained in the Jedi Order said that he should but a stop to their relationship before it could begin. But even as he thought that, a face came to the forefront of his mind. A young blond woman that even now stole his breath away and made his heart flutter. _'No. I can't and won't stop it this time. I'll do everything I can to help them, but I won't stop their hearts. That sort of mentality is what pushed Anakin over the edge.'_

"I believe that the Padawans are far more interested in their lessons now that he is here," Master Secura observed with a slight smirk. "Or at least Ahsoka is more attentive that is. I keep wondering if I should enter that betting pool that Kento and Sirius have going about when those two will disappear together for several hours. By the way both of them brighten when the other enters the room, I would place my credits on sooner rather than later."

Next to them, Master Ti cleared her throat rather loudly. "Should…should we even allow such a thing to come to pass?"

"I don't see why not?" Master Secura shrugged. "There's nothing in the Guardian Code which prohibits relationships. In fact, Nox actually actively encourages them. Sometimes a little more vocally than decent society would allow especially when her– ahem...lover is the Temple."

"We won't do anything." Obi-Wan said before Master Ti or Master Secura could comment further. "While the Sith are ultimately responsible for our current situation…we too hold some of the blame. If we had at least been open to the idea that such strong bond between two people will not ultimately lead to the dark side…then perhaps we could've helped Anakin. But instead, our ignorance and intolerance forced Anakin to tear himself apart as he fought a war within himself constantly. Battling between his feelings for his wife and his commitment to the Jedi Order. And it was this internal battle that the Emperor exploited."

"Wise words Master Kenobi." Master Yoda murmured, still watching the young ones training. "For thousands of years we guarded the galaxy. Set in our ways we became. Intolerant and unyielding while the galaxy shifted around us. Exploit this, the Sith did. Evolve, adapt we must. If balance is to be preserved."

Nodding, Obi-Wan stared down at the Knights and Apprentices as they squared off with one another to begin duel practice. 'Satine…I wish you were here with me now.'

* * *

"And – and you're sure that it will be alright if I take a picture then?"

Nodding, Harry cast a sideways glance at the young boy that'd been sent to retrieve him. Although calling Colin a boy was kind of ironic seeing as how Harry was only a year older than him. "I'm sure Colin." Harry nodded, making the boy smile even more as he began to excitedly check his camera over and over. "But I'll need to double check with the others first. At least with Cedric that is."

Walking down one of the fifth floor corridors, Harry felt a familiar presence as his lips twitched upwards. _'Well…at least I won't have to worry about fending off reporters today.'_ "Thank you Colin," Harry said as the two of them reached the door. "I'll be sure to talk to everyone else and get back to you as soon as I can."

Colin beamed at him before turning around and nearly sprinting away. Some might've said that he was wasting his time with the boy, but Harry saw something within him. The boy had an inquisitive spark as well as a keen eye that couldn't be taught nor tamed. He would be a reporter one day no question about it. And as his mother always said, you can either work with the press, or be destroyed by them.

Walking into the room, Harry grimaced slightly as he noted just how many people were in the room already. His fellow champions were all standing and chatting with their respective Headmasters. Ludo Bagman and amazingly enough Percy Weasley were standing together talking animatedly with one another. Standing just off to the side of the two men was a blond woman with thick glasses who had a quill and parchment floating in the air next to her while a man with a camera stood just behind her. _'Okay…I understand everyone but Percy. What the hell is he doing here?'_

As the door shut behind him, Bagman turned towards him with the largest grin he'd ever seen. "Ah, and here he is at last!" Bagman said loudly, garnering everyone's attention. "Harry lad, glad you could join us for this historic moment!"

Ignoring the bright welcoming by Bagman and instead marched right over to the person he'd sensed ever since she'd stepped foot into the castle. "Mother," he greeted, "I didn't think you'd be here today."

His mother gave him a coy look. "And leave you alone to the tender mercies of the press? Oh I think not my dear son."

"Yes yes…well as lovely as a reunion as this is perhaps we can get on with the ceremony. Um, I mean if it pleases you Madam Nox."

Nox smirked at the flustered Bagman as she stepped forward and placed a finger under the man's chin. "Why my dear sweet Ludo…I would never dream of holding up your precious timetable. Especially when it concerns my one and only son."

Bagman began to sweat and immediately backed off as he looked simultaneously aroused and scared shitless. Across the room, Harry noted that Fleur had been paying close attention to the way his mother acted as if she were trying to memorize every syllable that left his mother's lips. 'You might be able to turn most men to putty with your Veela charms Fleur, but my mother has been destroying men, and women, with a single glance since before any of us were even born.'

Part of Harry hated when his mother used her "womanly wiles". But at the same time he stuffed down those feelings with a vengeance. His mother was her own woman. Not only that, she always taught him to use every advantage one had. Whether it be your mind, your strength, or your ability to turn others into a blubbering wreck with a single glance. Any advantage was one worth pursuing.

"Right, well if Mister ash, nine-n-three-quarters with a dragon heartstring core is quite finished embarrassing himself, perhaps we can come to why I am here today." Ollivander said, taking a step forward into the center of the room, his eyes alight with glee before stopping and checking himself. "Sorry…I'm always excited to examine other wands…I just can't contain myself sometimes."

"Thank you Mr. Bagman, Mr. Ollivander." Dumbledore coughed, stepping forward and taking over as Bagman was still trying to compose himself after being subject to Nox's attention. "We have gathered you four here today for the ceremonial Weighing of the Wands. Mr. Ollivander here, as the premier wand-maker in Britain, shall be examining your wands. After which a short press conference and photo shoot will be held with Ms. Rita Skeeter here. Mademoiselle Delacour, as our first champion chosen would please do us the honors of presenting your wand first."

Stepping forward, Fleur pulled out her wand, a beautiful long white wand with what looked like engraved vines running up and down its length. Taking the wand as if he were taking a babe into his arms, Ollivander began inspecting the wand with a fine eye as his fingers ran over the engraved vines. He even brought the wand up to his ear at one point and time. His eccentric movements only made Harry more and more curious about the man. His mother was convinced that the man was not human. At least not fully. But the question was, if he wasn't human then just what in the name of the Force was he?

"This…this is something else." Ollivander murmured lovingly. "Rosewood, nine-n-a-half inches. And…oh…such a strong connection you have to your wand my dear. Is this…yes. Maternal connection. But…but not that close. Second generation? Yes, yes that's it. Veela hair for a core. From your grandmother who's a full veela."

Fleur seemed completely floored. "Um, yes. Yes it was my grandmother who gave her hair for my wand."

"Yes, like I said a fine piece of craftsmanship." Ollivander smiled, turning the wand in slight circles. "I don't usually use veela hair myself. It's powerful to be sure. But they are temperamental and loyal only to those that have a close blood relationship with the donor. But be that as it may," thrusting the wand out to his side, a bouquet of two dozen red roses appeared in the air. "This wand is in pristine condition." He finished handing both the wand, and the roses, back to Fleur.

Cedric was up next, as he presented his wand to Ollivander, the man smiled widely. "Ah yes, I remember this wand. Ash, twelve and one quarter inches. Unicorn hair core. Yes yes…such a fine wand. And in wonderful condition. You've been taking good care of this wand Mr. Diggory."

"Yes sir, thank you." Cedric smiled. "It's never failed me."

"And nor shall it as long as you respect it." Waving the wand off to the side, a string of fireworks and pyrotechnics shot out from the end of the wand. "Yes…excellent condition! Well done Mr. Diggory."

Next was Viktor. His wand had a pale coloring with a more than slightly unusual curve to end of the wand. "Hmm…most interesting." Ollivander hummed, twirling the wand between his fingers. "This wand was created specifically for your hands Mr. Krum. Ten and one-quarter inches, hornbeam with a dragon heartstring core."

"Correct." Krum nodded curtly. "The wand was made by-"

"Gregorovitch." Ollivander finished for the young man. "Yes, I recognize his style in this wand. Also more rigid than need be. No fluidity to his work. A skilled wand maker to be sure, but he could use some variety in his work. Nonetheless," snapping the wand out to the side, a large mug appeared in mid-air that was quickly filled with a foamy beverage before disappearing. "You have taken good care of it my boy. His wand is in excellent condition."

"Thank you." Krum nodded, taking his wand back and leaving only Harry left.

When Harry stepped forward, Ollivander's grin nearly split his face in two. "Ah, and Mr. Potter. Such and unusual wand for an unusual wizard. Elven inches, holly with a phoenix tail feather core. Such an unusual, usually unstable combination. Most fitting indeed."

"Yes sir," Harry nodded, holding up his wand for the wand maker. "It has served me well so far."

"And so shall it continue to do so as long as you respect and take care of it young Mr. Potter." Ollivander replied, taking the wand and running his fingers over its length. "Hmm, yes. No nicks, no scratches. Well maintained. And…hmm." Holding up the wand to his ear, Ollivander's grin faltered for a moment before returning with a vengeance. "Yes…most curious indeed."

"What is curious Mr. Ollivander?" Rita Skeeter asked stepping forward, her quill scribbling notes on the parchment floating in the air next to her. "Forgive me, Rita Skeeter of the Daily Prophet. Could please elaborate on what you find peculiar about young Lord Potter's wand?"

"This wand is completely and utterly devoted to young Mr. Potter." Ollivander explained without turning towards Skeeter. To prove his point, Ollivander waved it at a desk in the corner of the room. The strain on his face was evident, but the desk only rose a few inches off the ground before crashing back down. "It rejects even I, the one who created it. This wand is in pristine condition, but I daresay that it will only work for young Mr. Potter. You've done something remarkable, young Mr. Potter. The only other wand that has ever said to have been completely and utterly devoted to its user was the Elder Wand."

"Thank you sir." Harry nodded, his curiosity now peaked. _'Just what the hell is the Elder Wand? I've never heard of it before. Maybe mother, no. She looks just as curious as I do.'_

Clearing his throat loudly, Bagman stepped forward. "Well, now that that is all out of the way if our champions could please gather…oh let's say in front of the window, yes that will make or a wonderful back drop. Now Ms. Delacour if you could please stand there. And Mr. Krum there…and Mr. Diggory let's have you be over here…and Mr. Potter if you could please stand between Ms. Delacour and Mr. Diggory please. Yes, yes that looks about right."

Fighting down his annoyance, Harry took his place between Fleur and Cedric while Krum stood stoically on Fleur's other side. The man with the camera that'd been following Skeeter around eagerly stepped forward and began taking dozens of photos of the four of them from different angles. As he opened his camera to reload another roll of film, Harry actually did groan. And all the while his mother stood back, smiling as she enjoyed his torment.

"Right, I do believe that is enough pictures." Skeeter said, shooing the photographer away. "Now I would like to take the time to interview each of you one at a time. So…let's begin with our youngest champion in history. Lord Potter, if you would please come over here please we can get started."

Harry could barely get two words out before Skeeter had turned tail and moved to the back corner of the room where a couples of chairs had been set up. Forcing down the swell of dread of that was building in his gut, Harry followed behind Skeeter and took one of the offered seats. Skeeter sat down as well, but when her quill started writing on the parchment without either of them even speaking, a slender hand reached out and grabbed the quill before snapping it in half.

"I truly do hope that you didn't think that you would be able to conduct an interview with my son without my presence, Ms. Skeeter." His mother said evenly as she took the seat that was next to Harry.

Skeeter's eyes burned for a split second, but she recovered quickly. "Not at all Madam Nox," she replied, reaching into her purse and pulling out another quill which quickly replaced the now broken quill. "Your protectiveness of your son is a thing of legend Madam. I would not dare think to cross you."

"Good," his mother responded with a grin. "I would hate to think that such a fine establishment like the Daily Prophet had an annoying little blue beetle buzzing around its office."

The quill stopped mid stroke on the parchment as Skeeter started to radiate fear. "Yes…well I can assure you that there are no bugs in the Prophet's office."

His mother's eyes narrowed slightly, but the grin never left her face. "Oh I'm sure of that. No one likes a little pest buzzing around their heads. Especially my friend Madam Bones. Surely you know of her, yes? The Head of the DMLE?"

Skeeter's fear spiked even higher as her already pale skin went a shade paler. "Yes…I– I understand completely Madam Nox."

"Wonderful." Nox clapped. "Now you two go on ahead, pretend that I'm not even here."

Harry's head was spinning. _'Mother…what just happened?'_

 _'Our little reporter here is an unregistered animagus.'_ His mother answered back. _'And while that only carries the penalty of a fine, she would have to register herself afterwards and her ability to spy and get the best news would be gone. Now focus son. She's asking you the questions after all.'_

* * *

"Force! How can you do this for hours on end? And after the day you had no less! I mean…it's been dark for hours now! How are you still able to keep your eyes open? And shouldn't you have already headed back to Hogwarts already?"

Lowering his book just enough so that he could see over its cover, Harry cocked an eyebrow at Ahsoka, who had her head down and face buried into the pages of the book that she was, or at least had been, reading. It was late on Sunday, his last day at the Temple for at least two weeks as the first task was scheduled for the upcoming Saturday and he wouldn't be able to return home. "More of a doer rather than a thinker, eh Ahsoka?"

Ahsoka's head rose up as she glared at him. "I'm too tired to care right now…but I'm pretty sure you just insulted me."

"Me? Insult the great and wonderful Ahsoka Tano?" Harry gasped mockingly. "I would never dare. But hey, look on the bright side. You made it longer than those two over there."

Sitting a slight ways down the table from the two of them were Nat and Maris. Both of whom had their heads down and buried in the books that'd they'd been reading. At first the three girls had been excited about the prospect of studying with him in the library. But after three hours of doing nothing but reading Maris and Nat both succumb to the call of sleep. "Yeah," Ahsoka yawned. "If only barely. I guess that we're all just lucky that books can't bite you. I mean…wait…books don't actually bite people…do they?"

Laughing, Harry turned the page in the book he was glancing over trying to find any spell that would be useful. "Actually, I know of at least one. The 'Monster Book of Monsters'. Hagrid, the Care of Magical Creatures Professor, assigns that book to everyone who takes his class. Every year several students are admitted to the hospital wing because the book broke their fingers after biting them."

Ahsoka stared at him as if she were trying to figure out if he was lying to her or not. "I'll take your word for it," she said as she flipped to another seemingly random page in the book in front of her. "So…what exactly are you hoping to find in all of these books anyway? You never really gave us any clear indication."

"Anything that looks useful." Harry said as he got to his feet and handed his book off to her with the page he'd been reading held open by his finger. "Like this spell for instance."

Once she relieved him of the book, Harry turned around and made his way back into the shelves looking for another book. 'Thank the Force Mallie came around. At least now all of the books have at least some order to them.' He loved his mother dearly, he truly did. But if there was one thing that always drove him insane it was her organizational system. While it made sense to her, to anyone else it was completely random.

Walking into one of the more advanced runic sections of the library, Harry skimmed his finger along the spines of at least a dozen books before he felt the slightest tugging from the Force when he passed a particularly large dark green leather volume. Pulling the book off the shelf, Harry started skimming through the pages as he made his way back to the large table.

As he sat back down, he noticed that Ahsoka was completely absorbed in the page that he shown her. "This…this is incredible." She murmured sadly as she started reading over the page again. "This one spell could've changed the tide of so many battles during the war."

Deciding not to question her, Harry started to silently flip through the pages. This wasn't the first time she'd made that particular offhand comment. And the one time he asked her what she meant, it became so awkward that Harry had decided that he wouldn't ask her about the war unless she started the conversation.

 _'This looks promising.'_ Harry thought to himself as he came across one particular page and started reading. He became so engrossed in the page before him that he didn't even notice that Ahsoka had stood up until she was leaning over his shoulder with her face right next to his. "Hmm, that looks incredibly complex."

Jumping slightly, Harry banged his knee against the underside of the table. "Merlin's balls Ahsoka." Harry cursed as he rubbed his knee and stared down at the two sleeping girls, who'd slept right through the commotion. "Don't scare me like that!"

Ahsoka had to bite down on her knuckle as she apparently tried, unsuccessfully, to stifle her laughter. "What's the matter? Did I startle the big bad Harry Potter?"

"I'll give you startled." Harry smirked as he sent out a low-level bout of Force lightning as she was turning away from him, hitting her right in the backside.

Ahsoka jumped three feet into the air as she squealed slightly from the unexpected attack. Once she was back on her feet, she rounded on Harry, her eyes almost glowing. "Did you…did you just…oh Potter. You are so in for it now!"

Ahsoka's wand was just barely out of her wrist holder before Harry managed to apparate away from her, landing in the midst of the hundreds of books shelves within the library. Keeping his head down, Harry started to wander the shelves while keeping his sense open trying to pinpoint his pursuer. 'She's gotten a lot better at hiding her presence. Especially with only a few weeks of training in how to hide her presence. But as good as she's getting…she still has a ways to go.'

Pivoting, Harry brought his hands up ready to deflect whatever spell Ahsoka was about to throw at him. But was caught completely by surprise when, instead of throwing a spell at him, Ahsoka charged at him head on and drove her shoulder into his gut. Acting on instinct, Harry threw his legs back and leaned forward to prevent himself from being taken to the ground. Putting his hands under her shoulders, Harry forced her to stand up so that they were face to face. "Not bad Tano." Harry smirked. "You actually caught me by surprise there. But you still got a long way to go if you thin-"

Ahsoka threw her hip into him as her hand shifted their grip. Before he knew it, he was flying over her shoulder and landing hard on the ground. But instead of just letting him go, Ahsoka followed through by rolling on top of him, her legs on either side of his hips. One her arms moving to pin his above his head, while her other held her wand against his throat. "You shouldn't be too overconfident Potter. I was trained by the Jedi since before I could remember." Ahsoka smirked. "And I spent two years on the front lines of the largest war the galaxy has seen for hundreds of years. It's you who's got a long way t-"

Taking a page from Ahsoka, Harry made his move while she was still talking. Using his feet to raise his hips off the floor, Harry reversed their position in the blink of an eye. And all Ahsoka could do was stare up at him with wide eyes as he now had her pinned to the ground. "What was that about being overconfident Tano?"

His smile quickly faltered though as he saw the look in Ahsoka's eyes and realized the position that they were in. Him. Laying on top of the woman that'd been haunting his dreams for weeks. With her arms above her head…completely at his mercy.

Whatever words he might've had died in his throat as her eyes bore into his with a fire completely unlike the fire he'd seen in them just moments ago. Letting go of her arms, Harry placed his hands against the floor on either side of her head to support his weight. Now free, her hands shot out to his face. But instead of pushing him back like he expected…they grabbed hold of his hair instead.

Harry groaned aloud as Ahsoka twisted slightly beneath him. He'd never been in a position like this. Ever. Well…except for in his dreams and those were only a recent development. But one thing was for sure…dreams had absolutely nothing on real life. The world around them started to fade as he felt a gently tug on his hair. He vaguely realized that their faces were drawing closer together. Another inch or so and they-

"Harry! Master Tano! Are you two still in here?"

Harry and Ahsoka both froze as Nat's voice echoed through the library. Part of Harry wished that she would just go away, but that wasn't about to happen as Nat called out again even closer this time, this time with Maris's voice joining in. "Harry! Ahsoka! We know you two are still in here! Master Mallie is in here too! Harry needs to be heading back to Hogwarts!"

Whatever moment that'd been going on between Harry and Ahsoka was officially gone as Ahsoka roughly pushed him off of her as the two of them scrambled to their feet. "Well…" Harry coughed awkwardly, not quite able to look at Ahsoka. "That…umm…"

Ahsoka's orange skin was tinted with a slight red as she awkwardly adjusted her clothes that didn't need to be adjusted. "Yeah…so that happened and…um…"

"Ah, here you two are!" Cocking his head, Harry found Maris and Nat both walking down the aisle towards them. As they came closer, Maris stated looking at the different books on the shelves. "What were you two doing in this section of the library? These all look like the beginner level charm books that Master Ti is helping me through. Didn't you say Harry that you needed some advanced spells?"

"We are…" Harry responded awkwardly looking around trying to find something, anything, to explain why they were here. "We um…we just got lost that's all."

"Lost?" Maris asked, looking back and forth between the two of them before a slow smirk began to form on her face. "So that is what you people call it on this world huh? You know…I'm sure that there are better places to get 'lost' in around here rather than in the library. You two are just lucky it was us and not Master Mallie who found you two. Force knows what she would do if she found you two got 'lost' in her library."

It took all of Harry's self-control not to react, and even then he was still sure that his face was inflamed judging by the smirk of victory that Maris was giving the two of them. Beside him Ahsoka didn't look to be faring any better than he. "Right…" Harry coughed trying, and failing, to think of something, anything, that might get him away from this moment and back to the one that'd just passed a few seconds ago. "Well…umm…I uh think I need to head out. More than likely way past curfew now at Hogwarts and I doubt Dumbledore will be pleased that I'm already so late."

"Right." Ahsoka nodded before turning towards him. She looked as if she was going to say something, but then apparently thought better of it as she shook her head. "Stay safe Harry. I'll see you on Saturday."

"You're coming to Hogwarts?" Harry found himself asking as once again Maris and Nat disappeared into the background, leaving only Ahsoka in his mind.

"Yeah," Ahsoka nodded. "Umm, Master Nox said that I can come if I want. And– and I'm interested to see your school and everything, even though I won't be able to see it all that much. But it will still be interesting."

"Yeah," Harry nodded, his mind forgetting everything save for the fact that Ahsoka was going to be at Hogwarts. "Well…I uh guess that I should head out then."

"Yeah." Ahsoka nodded, though neither of them moved.

"Are you two going to kiss?"

Both Harry's and Ahsoka's heads whipped around to find Nat staring up at them innocently while Maris was standing behind her, a hand over her mouth as she tried, failing, to stifle her laughter. "What?" They both asked.

"Master Kento kisses Master Mallie whenever they leave the room." Nat replied innocently. "And Master Nox kisses Madam Tonks. So…why aren't you two kissing?"

Harry was sure that his face was warm enough to cook something on by this point. "That's…that's for adults Nat."

Nat looked back and forth between the two of them. "But you two are Knights. You are adults. And you like one another. So kiss."

Harry and Ahsoka turned towards one another, her cheeks were as red as Harry felt. Deciding that Nat wasn't going to let them be until they gave in, Harry mustered his courage, leaned towards Ahsoka. And gave her a quick chaste kiss to her cheek. "There," he said turning back towards a grinning Maris and rather disappointed looking Nat. "Happy?"

"Yes."

"No."

"Leave it be Nat." Maris said, grabbing Nat's hand as she started to move away. "See you in a week or two Harry. Make sure you win this competition thing that you're in. Don't want to dishonor the Guardian Order."

Alone once more, Harry felt the awkwardness between him and Ahsoka grow exponentially. "So…"

"You should get going Harry." Ahsoka said without looking at him. It may have been wishful thinking on his part, but she almost sounded disappointed. "You don't want to be late."

"Yeah." Harry nodded as Ahsoka began to wander off. "Wait! Ahsoka!"

Stopping, Ahsoka turned back around to face him, her face completely blank. "Yes?"

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Harry nodded to her. "I– I can't wait for you to see Hogwarts next weekend."

Nodding, Ahsoka's lips turned upwards, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "Me too. Just…be safe on Saturday. You hear me?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded as Ahsoka turned back around and left him there.

Once she was gone, Harry let out the breath he didn't know he was holding in as he fell back against the bookshelf. _'Force_.' He breathed, clutching at his still rapidly beating heart. _'What is going on with me?'_

* * *

That anticipated Saturday, Harry found himself sitting in a small tent just outside the Quidditch stadium with his fellow champions as they waited for the stadium to fill up with the spectators there to watch the first task of the TriWizard tournament. In the middle of the tent, Cedric was pacing back and forth like a caged animal, muttering one spell after another under his breath. 'Really don't need the Force to tell me that he is the most nervous out of the four of us.'

Sitting directly across the tent from him was Fleur. And while she definitely hid it well behind a blank mask, he could tell that she was merely a duck on the pond. Calm on the surface, but underneath she was going a mile a minute. And then sitting in a corner by himself was Krum. The oldest of the four of them, Krum wasn't pacing, nor was he giving off any feelings of nervousness. He was just…there. It was…strange. Harry expected to feel something from him. But at the moment he was just feeling…nothing. _'Probably took a calming draught before he came here. Smart. And not against the rules either.'_

"Where did you get those robes Harry? I thought you'd be wearing something to symbolize Hogwarts."

Turning his attention back to Cedric, Harry looked down at the robes he was wearing. Fleur was wearing a silver set of robes with blue trim while Krum was wearing a dark red with black trim robe. He'd been given a red and black uniform that had a griffin badge, much like Cedric's own robes that were yellow and back with a badger badge on his chest. But he'd turned the robes down. Cedric was Hogwarts champion, not Harry. So instead Harry had opted to wear a simple black colored Jedi-like set of robes complete with a thick over cloak.

"I got them from my mother," he answered. "These are the types of robes I wore over the summer on the trip my mother brought me on. They're actually really comfortable and easy to move around in despite how they look."

Cedric gave him a once over. "But…why aren't you wearing the uniform that Professor McGonagall gave you?"

"Because I'm not the Hogwarts champion Cedric." Harry sighed. "You are."

Cedric's back straightened and Harry could feel a slight wave of pride rolling off of him. Before he could say more though, the tent flap opened allowing Dumbledore and the rest of the judges for the tournament walked in. As the last of the judges walked in, Harry had to control himself from twitching his hand to draw his lightsaber or wand. After the ousting of Crouch Jr, a new judge from the Ministry was selected to fill his place. And of all the people they could've chosen, they had to choose the toad face woman that was near the top of Harry's shit list. Dolores Umbridge herself.

"Good morning champions!" Bagman exclaimed joyfully as he entered the tent, a wide smile across his face. "And welcome to your first task of the tournament! Now, if you will all please gather around I will explain to you all the task for today."

Getting up from his seat, Harry made his way to the center of the tent with the rest of the champions, once they were all assembled, Bagman pulled a small leather bag out from within his robes. "So, the dreaded First Task of the Triwizard Tournament. You will each leaving this tent one at a time to face your challenge. Your task is to collect a single golden egg, which is in the center of the Quidditch pitch and return with it intact. Once the four of you have completed the task, you will each be awarded points by our five judges based on your performance. These points will not be used determine the overall winner, however they are crucial for the final task."

"Now," Bagman continued. "While this may not seem difficult there is one little thing standing in your way. One of four Class Five creatures: a manticore, a nundu, a Hungarian horntail, or a chimaera. And as an added degree of difficulty, the terrain of the pitch will be altered for each of you pending on the order that you will be completing this task in."

Cedric paled considerably and Fleur's throat noticeably bobbed as she swallowed hard. Even Krum seemed slightly surprised at what they were facing. Harry though, wasn't necessarily surprised. ' _They really didn't do their homework on this. Historically the first task usually always involved either fighting or getting past some sort of dangerous creature. The only question that remains though, is what Class Five creature will we be facing off against?'_

"Now," Bagman continued. "While we will be drawing the order here and now, you will not know which creature you will be facing until you leave this tent and enter the next just before entering the Quidditch pitch. Once inside the 'on-deck', to borrow a muggle phrase, tent you will be allotted ten minutes to come up with a strategy before you will be forced to enter the stadium. Any questions? No? Splendid! Now let us choose the order. My lady, if you would do us the honors of choosing first."

Keeping her face completely composed, Fleur delicately dipped her hand into the bag Bagman was holding open. When she brought it back out, she was holding a small black ball with a number one on it. "And it appears that you've drawn the lucky number one." Bagman smiled widely before moving the bag over to Harry. "Now for our youngest Champion."

Reaching into the same bag, Harry felt three small balls within. For a moment he tried to find anything that might distinguish one from the other, which he was sure Fleur had done as well. But when he could find anything he decided to trust his luck and pulled one out at random. "Number four!" Bagman proclaimed. "Mr. Krum if you would please?"

Krum drew the ball numbered 'three', leaving Cedric to go second after Fleur. Once the order had been confirmed, Dumbledore stepped forward and handed each of them a small pin. Staring down at the small 'H', Harry immediately knew what it was. "Now our primary concern in this tournament is your safety." Dumbledore explained as he motioned to the pins each of them were holding in their hands. "What each of you are holding is a one-time use portkey. Should you feel that you cannot complete the task, you need only say your name and 'withdraw'. Also, should you fall unconscious the portkey will activate and you will be pulled out of the arena. However, failure to complete the assigned task will result in your final score being halved."

"Well then," Bagman said joyfully clapping his hands together. "I guess that is everything. Ms. Delacour, if you would please enter the waiting tent you will find out which creature you will be facing and you're ten minutes to plan will begin. Best of luck to you all!"

With Bagman and Umbridge departing, Dumbledore came up to Harry and Cedric while Maxime and Karkaroff went over to their respective champions as well. "I wish the both of you the best of luck." The old man said, smiling grandfatherly at the two of them. "And please…do not try to be heroes. There is no shame in using your portkeys should you come up against something that you cannot face alone. Good luck."

Harry wanted to scoff out loud _. 'That little speech was meant for me. He doesn't think that I can do this and wants me to pull out the moment I enter the arena. Fat chance of that happening_.' Instead of scoffing though, Harry merely nodded his head while Cedric did the same.

Now alone once again, Cedric resumed his constant pacing while Harry moved towards the back corner of the tent and knelt down onto his knees and closed his eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Meditating." Harry answered Krum without opening his eyes. "It's a good way to clear your mind and center yourself."

Just before Harry thought he could gain a moment to center himself he heard Bagman's voice in the background.

 _ **"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the first Task of the Triwizard Tournament!"**_ Harry cringed as the obscenely chipper voice of Bagman filled the air, shattering his inner peace. _**"We have quite a treat for all of you today! As you can all see, the Quidditch pitch has been transformed and in the center is our Champions goal. A single golden egg which will contain a clue as to their second task! But standing in their way…one of four ferocious beasts from around the world! Now, let's give it up for our first champion to throw their hat into the ring! Ms. Fleur Delacour! Please enter the waiting tent and your ten minutes of preparation time begins now!"**_

Opening his eyes, Harry managed to catch Fleur's gaze before she left the tent. "Best of luck to you Fleur." He said. "Although I'm sure that this will just be like a walk in the park for you."

" _Bien sur."_ Fleur responded before holding her head up high as she walked out of the tent.

Closing his eyes once more, Harry blocked out all sound as he meditated. The time passed by quickly as Harry knelt, seeking the Force for guidance, trying to gain some glimmer of what he would be facing soon. Cedric's name had been called at some point, but Harry was too deep into his meditation to acknowledge his fellow champion. The Force showed him…something. But it was disjointed. Confused. It was as if the creature shouldn't exist in the Force for some reason.

 _ **"Congratulations Viktor Krum! Now witches and wizards…it is time for the youngest champion in the history of the Triwizard Tournament to come forth! The one and only…Harry Potter!"**_

Opening his eyes, Harry gave off a frustrated growl as he got up to his feet. He hadn't even realized that Viktor had left the tent. _'How long was I meditating for? An hour? Maybe longer? And still I have no idea what I'll be facing.'_

Walking out of the tent and into the next, Harry chuckled to himself as he saw the small little figurine that was prowling around the table that was in the center of the tent. 'No wonder the Force was confused as to what I would be facing. A chimera is technically a hodgepodge of animals and really shouldn't exist. But still…this could work out in my favor.'

 _ **"Harry Potter! You're ten minutes are up! Please enter the arena!"**_

With his plan firmly etched in his mind, or at least the outline of a plan he had worked up between the ten minutes he was allowed and his talks with his mother, Harry walked out of the tent to the sound of a thunderous applause. The entirety of the Quidditch stands were standing room only by the looks of it. He briefly looked up towards one of the towers as he sensed his mother and Ahsoka briefly. ' _Focus on them later,_ ' he thought, wrenching his gaze back down to the field.

The green grass of the Quidditch field was gone. Replaced with rough black rocks that were interwoven with a labyrinth of paths through. And in the center of the pitch, raised up on a pedestal, was his goal. _'Okay…now all that's missing is the damn chimera.'_

Ducking down into the maze of rocks, Harry leaned his back up the stone and brought his wand up to his eyes. " _Omnes videntes."_

The spell was an old one called 'All-Seeing' that he and Ahsoka had discovered during one of their late night study sessions in one of the books that'd been brought by Sirius from the Black family library. The spell would allow him to see anything that was alive in his immediate area, even if it was hidden behind something. It could even pass through disillusionment charms.

There were only two downsides. One, the spell didn't last long. And two, it couldn't see through invisibility cloaks. His vision turned slightly golden as a pulse wave went through the immediate area in his vision. And for the briefest of moments as the pulse passed over it, Harry could see the outline of the chimera.

 _'It's hiding in the rocks, near the pedestal.'_ He cursed as he used the spell one more time, this time focusing the pulse to the area where he'd spotted the chimera. Luckily the beast hadn't moved _. 'More than likely waiting for me to fall into its trap. Large body…two heads. One looks like a lion's and the other looks like a goat's. And a thick tail…no. A snake for a tail. Well then, that'll make things easier. Let's just hope that all three heads actually speak.'_

Pushing off of the wall, Harry cast a series of charms on himself. The first to silence his footsteps and the second to make sure he gave off no odor. _'Chimera's have excellent senses. I need to take this slow until I'm ready._ ' Keeping his head down below the level of the rocks, Harry made his way around the outskirts of the arena. Once he was a fair distance away from his entry point, he pointed his wand at his throat and cast a weak sonorous charm on himself.

* * *

Sitting up high in the spectator's tower with Master Nox and Sirius, Ahsoka was doing everything she could to keep herself firmly in place as she watched Harry move around the outskirts of the arena. All the while the monstrous beast that he was up against stayed put in the center near the egg. 'It's smart.' She thought to herself. 'It knows that Harry needs to come to it. So it's not wasting energy. Force…these monsters would've given even the most senior Masters of the Jedi Order pause!'

As Harry edged through the maze, a memory resurfaced in Ahsoka's mind. A recent memory of the two of them in the library. Harry on top of her. Her hands weaving through his hair. His eyes on fire. His breath tickling her skin as she pulled–

 _'Force_!' Ahsoka cursed as she violently shook her head as she felt her cheeks warming considerably.

Ahsoka tried for days after the little incident to tell herself that it meant nothing. But with each telling…she knew that her lies were growing weaker and weaker. What had happened, or almost happened, meant everything. She was not well versed in manners of the heart, no Jedi was. A fact that she cursed just about every day since meeting Harry. During the war she'd had a brief infatuation with Lux Bonteri, but those feelings paled in comparison to what she was feeling now towards Harry.

Shaking her head once more, and glad that no one had noticed her internal struggle, she forced herself to pay attention to what was happening beneath them. As she watched Harry, Ahsoka couldn't help but marvel at the different approaches each of champions had taken. The first participant had been the beautiful Veela that Harry had told her about named Fleur. The half-Veela had gone up against a strange feline like creature with a human face a long reptilian like stinging tail that Master Nox had called a manticore.

Fleur, upon seeing the beast, unleashed her Veela allure on it, making the creature fall into a daze. And while it was still dazed, Fleur transfigured a nearby large rock into a perfect copy of herself and sent it running around before disillusioning herself. She'd just barely managed to get her spell in place before the manticore broke out of its daze, and in its fury at being tricked immediately went after the first thing it saw, namely the fake Fleur.

The copy ran hard and fast, but could only last for a minute or two before the manticore caught up to it. With a mighty leap the creature landed on the copy before its powerful stinger pierced its chest. The copy didn't even scream, not that it could, as it was turned to dust. Realizing that it'd been tricked, again, the manticore turned around just as Fleur managed to reach the pedestal containing the golden egg. Once she had hold of the egg, Fleur twisted in place and apparated with a loud crack, only to appear at the opposite end of the pitch far from the manticore and right next to the exit.

The next up had been Cedric. Harry's classmate had gone up against another large feline like creature called a nundu. Unlike the manticore it didn't have a stinger or a human-like face. But it was still just as dangerous. The moment Cedric stepped into the area the nundu crouched down into the rocks, took a deep breath which caused its throat to expand to nearly five times it original size. And released a purple like vapor that coated the entire arena within seconds. Cedric though had apparently been prepared for this as he'd cast a bubble-head charm on himself before stepping into the arena to prevent the gas from reaching his lungs.

What followed next was a long game of cat and mouse as Cedric carefully tried to elude the stalking nundu. After nearly twenty minutes without being able to close in on the prize, Cedric changed tactics and started transfiguring the rocks around him into various animals before sending them out after the nundu as bait. It worked as the nundu, seeing the chance for easy prey, immediately jumped on the animals, destroying them one at a time with its powerful claws. Cedric kept transfiguring as he ran, sending wave after wave of prey for the nundu to hunt down, allowing him to reach the pedestal, claim his egg and get back out with hardly even a scratch laid on him.

Viktor Krum had gone up against a large dragon that was easily longer than three LAATs lined up in a row with a wingspan twice that. And he'd taken a completely different approach when dealing with his guardian. Whereas Fleur had used stealth and Cedric misdirection, Viktor had used pure brute force. As soon as he saw the dragon he started using his magic to hurl boulders as large as himself at the flying dragon. The dragon, while confined to the arena, still had enough room to maneuver and was able to dodge all of the stones, but as it did Viktor slowly made his way forward. Then when the dragon finally had had enough and charged him, he managed to hit the dragon right in the eyes with some sort of spell that had the poor creature crying out in agony before falling backwards, giving Viktor the time he needed to get the egg and get back out.

And now it was Harry's turn…and he was going up against probably the most dangerous of the four creatures, at least according to Master Nox. From her vantage point, she watched as Harry edged around another rock and pointed his wand towards his throat. A sudden hissing noise echoed throughout the stadium, making more than one person gasp. But it wasn't their reactions that concerned Ahsoka. Her attention was focused solely on the chimera. Or rather the sentient snake tail which had perked up at the noise and started to…hiss back.

"He's talking to the snake?" Ahsoka half-questioned half-stated. "Is this that…parsel-speak Harry was talking about being able to do?"

"Parseltongue," Sirius corrected her. "And yes. I never thought I'd be grateful for him to have that particular skill."

"Why?" Ahsoka asked curiously. Being able to talk to an animal, any type of animal for that matter, would make him one of the most sought after and valuable members of the Jedi Order.

"Because in some parts of the world, like here for instance, parseltongue is considered to be a 'dark' ability." Master Nox explained as the Harry and the snake tail spoke back and forth to one another. "But like most things that are labeled as 'dark', it is merely a misunderstood ability."

"And it has a bad history to boot." Sirius continued. "The worst of the dark wizards dating back to Slytherin himself were parseltongues. So you can understand why it's developed a rather unfortunate reputation. Unfortunately though…I don't think he's going to be able to accomplish whatever he's hoping too."

"Why?"

"While parseltongues can control all snakes due to their reverence of 'Speakers', this chimera is only part snake." Master Nox explained. "It won't hold the same reverence for a Speaker like its brethren and-"

The chimera gave off a loud roar as it jumped up from its hiding place and charged directly for where Harry was hiding. Harry just barely managed to roll out from behind the boulder he was hiding behind before the chimera reduced it to dust with one swipe of its claws. "And now the real game begins." Master Nox finished, her face completely devoid of emotion.

 _'Force.'_ Ahsoka breathed, her fists tightening to the point of being painful as she watched, itching to jump down off of the tower and aid Harry. _'Be safe Harry…'_

* * *

Running and rolling out of the way of another powerful swipe, Harry was immediately up on his feet and running before the chimera could recover. 'Well…so much for plan A.' He cursed as he slid around another corner and fought to control his breathing.

Speaking parseltongue had definitely caught the creature's attention, and for a brief moment Harry thought he might've actually be able to pull this task off with little effort. The snake had been curious at first, but that was it. Curious. And when Harry asked if it would simply let him pass, it laughed and the lion's head had responded with a deafening no as the snake told him that they hadn't been fed in quite some time. And that all three of the heads were looking forward to feast on him while he was still alive and fresh. Needless to say…that had ended all negotiations. And now Harry was running as fast as he could trying to find a spot where he could enact his backup plan.

 _"You are fassstss, little sssneakss."_ The snake tail hissed loudly. _"Wesss can't hearsss you or sssmellss you. But wesss knowsss where yousss going little sssneaksss. The egg…we will waitss for you little sssneakss."_

Cursing, Harry cast the all-seeing charm once again. The chimera had indeed pulled back to the base of the pedestal and was sitting down, each of its three heads looking off in a different direction. _'There…just in front of it. It's open and flat enough…I just need some time.'_

Picking up a stone from beside him, Harry disillusioned the stone and then banished it up into the air before casting all-seeing again. The stone landed on the opposite side of arena, and immediately the chimera leapt to its feet and dove down into the stone maze. Picking up six other stones, Harry cast a few quick cutting curses onto each one before making his move.

Leaping up onto the stone platform, Harry made a beeline for the pedestal, his wand held tightly in his hand as he pointed it towards the ground and began muttering under his breath. He felt the briefest warning from the Force and dove forward into a roll, his wand touching the ground just as a heavy claw passed through the air where he'd just been.

Rolling backwards and to the side, Harry just barely managed to avoid the second strike of the chimera before he righted himself and threw a stunner at the beast. The red spell impacted the chimera, but appeared to do little more than annoy the large beast. _"Thatsss ticklesss…little sssneaksss."_ The snake head hissed at him as he faced off with the beast that was easily twice as tall as him. _"Yoursss magic issss…uselesssss againssstsss ussss."_

"Shall we put that to the test then?" Harry asked before throwing a blasting curse not at the chimera but at the rocks beneath its feet.

The chimera danced off the side, avoiding the sudden uprising of debris from beneath it. Sidestepping with the beast, Harry sent off a barrage of spells from simple blasting to cutting curses. Anything and everything he could think of he threw at the beast as they circled one another. And without fail, each spell simply bounced off the creature's hide. The only thing that was proving to be effective against the beast was the few times he used a blasting curse to create a small hole in the ground.

Turning in place, the snake tail hissed as it uncoiled quickly. Harry just managed to turn his body so that the sharp fangs passed him by, then he dropped to the ground as the snake curled in, trying to trap him. Left with no choice, Harry used a small Force push to skid himself across the ground and out of the way of the snake that'd almost managed to catch him.

Rolling backwards and onto his feet, Harry sent off two more blasting curses at the ground, creating small divots near the chimera and making it dance back. " _Yousss isss good. Little sssneaksss."_ The snake hissed as it once again coiled itself up on the back of the chimera. _"We haven't had thisss much funsss in a long timesss."_

"You haven't seen what I'm truly capable of yet." Harry growled. If he'd been able to go all out he would've killed this creature a long time ago. But as it was, he had to keep his abilities a secret for the moment.

All three heads of the chimera gave off a crude sort of laugh. " _A proud boasssst, little sssneakss. But we have ssseen betters than yousss. Yousss will die heresss."_

Smiling, Harry cast another slight blasting curse at his feet, creating a sixth divot into which he dropped the final stone he'd been holding onto. "I don't think so." Harry replied calmly, taking a few steps forward. "I'm not about to be killed by a hodgepodge piece of shit like you."

All three heads glared at him with the snake hissing. " _Time to diess…little ssneakss! We sssshall tear your flessssh from your bonessss will you sssstill breathes!"_

Harry held his ground, even as the monstrous beast charged at him. Just as the lions head opened its jaws, Harry leapt up off the ground, using the Force ever so slightly to propel himself up so he could flip over the chimera. As he did, he twisted out of his heavy over cloak, letting the pitch black heavy fabric fall over the lion and goat heads of the chimera effectively blinding two of the three heads.

Twisting his body in midair, Harry managed to avoid the snake head once more while throwing a cutting curse, which struck the snake right under its jaw. It wasn't enough to cleave the head from the rest of the body, but it did managed to cut through the soft tissue enough to make the snake hiss and recoil in pain.

The moment his feet touched the ground, Harry pushed himself backwards out of the way of the bucking chimera as it tried to get its cloak off. Once he was safely out of the way, he pointed his wand at the ground. " _Lapidem carcerem!"_

The six small divots that he'd created and dropped the stones into all alighted for moment before stone spikes a foot in diameter shot up from the ground before converging in on one another in the air above the chimera creating a stone cage. The spell was a highly complex one that he'd come across with Ahsoka. It was a mixture of six simplistic runic arrays that were spaced out evenly in a hexagon pattern and then activated with an incantation. Pointing his wand at the cage, Harry poured as much strength as he could into his spell as he transfigured the stone pillars and the ground immediately beneath the chimera into phrik metal, or as close to phrik metal as he could make it.

 _'Stone wouldn't be able to hold it.'_ Harry smirked as the chimera, who'd finally managed to get his cloak off, raged against the bars of its cage. _'But mother told me that phrik metal can withstand even lightsaber strikes. And while she hasn't been able to show me an example of it, she has shown me its atomic and chemical composition. So that should hold for a while at least.'_

"Not such a boast now…is it?" Harry asked casually before turning his back on the creature and calmly walking up to the pedestal and picking up the golden egg from its center.

As he began his march out of the arena, he passed by the cage once more. The chimera had stopped raging against its prison as all three heads watched him as he passed it by. _"Not bad…little wizard."_ The snake hissed, making him stop and look back. _"But thissss trick. Ssshall only work once."_

Holding up the golden egg, Harry casually bounced it in his hand. "I only needed it to work once chimera. But I will say…you were indeed a challenge. So thank you." Bowing slightly to the creature, Harry turned and made his way out of the arena. And for once, the thunderous applause that followed him didn't bother him in the least.

* * *

"Completely and utterly unfair! Clearly they have their favorites…and that makes them unfit to be judges in a competition like this! Honestly, who thought that it would be a good idea to have the Headmasters as three of the five judges. And– Harry! Are you even listening to me!?"

"Yes Hermione I'm listening." Harry nodded absentmindedly as he and the other's sat in the Great Hall early in the morning before their first classes of the day were scheduled to begin. For the most part they were alone, save for almost all of the Ravenclaws and a few of the older students who were taking the time to study before class. "Just like I've been listening to you, and everyone else in this school, for the past two days."

And he had been. It'd been two days since the First Task and pretty much every discussion around the school was revolving around what'd happened that day. Or more specifically, what had happened when the judges had announced their individual scores for the competitors. Once the field had been cleared the judges had called for all four champions to stand before them.

Fleur, having gone first, had had her score announced first. Bagman was the first to go and held his wand up creating a figure eight. Dumbledore went next, giving her a nine, citing her impressive usage of transfiguration and ingenuity. Maxime had, unsurprisingly, given Fleur a ten. Karkaroff looked like he'd swallowed a lemon whole, but had grudgingly raised his wand and given her a seven. It was when Umbridge announced her score that things started to go downhill fast. She'd given Fleur a two. Her reasoning for which had set Harry's teeth on edge.

 _'She used an advantage unavailable to her competitors that should've disqualified her. But as she completed her task…I give her a two instead of a one.'_ Umbridge received her fair share of boos at that, and if looks could kill then the combined gazes of Fleur and Maxime would've killed the woman a dozen times over. In the end, despite the obvious prejudice against her, thirty-six out of a possible fifty points.

Next up was Cedric. Again, Bagman congratulated him on his accomplishment of getting past the nundu and presented him with another eight. Dumbledore smiled at the lad and gave him a full ten while Maxime gave him a nine. Karkaroff, while not looking entirely pleased, did look slightly better than when he judge Fleur but he still only gave Cedric a seven. Umbridge, in a show of bias, gave him a full ten giving him a grand total of forty-four points.

When it was Krum's turn to receive his points, the judges' bias was thrust fully into the light. Bagman gave him a nine, while both Dumbledore and Maxime gave him an eight. Both sighting that he'd caused unnecessary harm to the dragon. Karkaroff however could barely wait before he gave Krum a full ten. An action that was mimicked by Umbridge soon after giving Krum a grand total of forty-five.

When Harry stepped up to receive his score, he was met with a resounding applause from the entire audience. It took Dumbledore firing off a cannon-blast charm to quiet the crowd down enough so that they could actually announce his totals. Bagman didn't even hesitate before giving Harry a full ten. Dumbledore smiled his grandfatherly smile, but Harry could've sworn that he saw something akin to fear behind the old man's eyes, but it was gone so quickly that Harry figured he might've just imagined it. Despite what he thought he saw, Dumbledore gave him full marks as well. As did Maxime.

Karkaroff however merely glared at him and Harry knew that their brief confrontation was about to come back and bite him. And sure enough, Karkaroff awarded him a mere three points. When the audience booed, Karkaroff defended himself by saying that Harry had taken the longest out of the competitors. The audience's boos increased tenfold as Umbridge awarded him a one. Citing that he'd used a known and prohibited dark art parseltongue, even though it wasn't a banned skill.

"-be allowed to protest the points." Hermione continued, forcing Harry back to the present. "That…awful excuse for a woman and Karkaroff clearly both have it out for the both of you! Honestly, they should not be allowed to judge."

"In the end it won't matter Hermione." Harry countered, grabbing the piece of toast that Ginny was wordlessly holding for him. _'Force…I swear sometimes she's in my mind!'_ "The points only count towards something to do with the last task. They don't decide the winner."

"Well, I guess so." Hermione grumbled before her eyes lit up once more. "And speaking of which, where in Merlin's name did you learn how to cast the Stone Prison?'

"In a book from the library at my mother's." Harry shrugged. "I read it over and it looked useful, so I made sure to study it before going out there. I have to admit, I'm actually fairly surprised it actually worked. I hadn't really had the chance to try it out."

Hermione's jaw nearly hit the table and Ginny looked at him like he'd suddenly gone and grown two heads. Even Ron looked at him fairly quizzically. "Let me get this straight mate," Ron said slowly. "You…never practiced that spell before?"

"No." Harry answered honestly, not seeing the issue. "Like I said, I read about it in a book and it looked useful. Ahsoka said it looked complex…but I didn't think it was too hard. I'm sure all of you could do it in no time at all."

"No. We couldn't Harry." Ginny answered. "That was a runic spell Harry. There are only like two-dozen of those in existence tha–"

"Twenty-one, actually."

"Thanks for proving my point Hermione." Ginny said, shaking her head and pressing on. "But like I was saying, there are only twenty-one runic spells in existence. They take either a team of wizards hours, or a single wizard days to cast. Bloody hell, I looked into Professor Babbling's course outline, she doesn't even talk about runic spells until seventh year. And even then you never cast one."

"The Stone Prison was a runic spell that was developed by Merlin himself to capture a dragon that was harassing the land." Hermione continued. "And it took him a full day to set it and another to lure the dragon into its field of effect. Ever since then, very few actually use it because it takes so long to cast and while it's effective, it can also be easily disrupted if one were to remove any of the anchoring runes. Plus, runic spells are not simply a 'carve a rune and cast a spell' type of magic. With each rune that you make you have to keep in mind that it is only one portion of the overall spell and therefore compensate. Then the spell itself has to be annunciated exactly as well the correct will to create what you are trying to do. Quite simply Harry…Runic Spells are not just a branch of magic…there a specialty. And there are only a dozen or so individuals the world over that are actually credited with being able to the use the magic effectively."

Harry blinked at Hermione. _'What? Is she having one over on me? No…I can feel that Ginny's being sincere.'_

"Do you…do you think that this has anything to do with what the Father did?" Ginny asked quietly, leaning in so her voice wouldn't be overheard.

Harry hadn't necessarily considered that, but now that she said it, it made sense. He still hadn't been sure exactly what the Father had done to him. He said that he was giving Harry knowledge, but knowledge of what he had no idea. Sure he had a few ideas for usages with the Force that his mother found insightful, but nothing extreme. 'Perhaps this is what he meant. That I would be learning faster and easier. I learned how apparate almost by accident and in no time at all I can do it at will. And even my animagus transformation was faster than even my mother expected.'

"Well whatever happened, it was bloody fantastic mate!" Ron cheered, slapping him on the back. "I can't wait to– oh come on. What's he doing here?"

Staring at Ron, he saw that his friend was glaring at something, or someone, behind him. Turning around, Harry felt his own confusion rise as he saw Professor McGonagall walking into the Great Hall accompanied by none other than Bill Weasley himself.

"Thank you for bringing me down Professor." Bill was smiling from ear to ear as the two of them walked towards them. "It's always a pleasure to be escorted by such a wonderful witch like yourself. And may I say, the years have been kind to you Professor."

"You may William…but just as when you were one of my lions, your flattery will get you nowhere with me young man." Professor McGonagall shot back, although Harry could detect the slightest upturn of her lips as she did so.

"You wound me Professor." Bill smirked, faking hurt. "My intentions and flattery are completely noble in origin I assure you."

"I'll believe that when I see it, young William." McGonagall responded again before stopped right next to Harry and the others. "I trust that you can find them from here young William? Or do I need to hold your hand again until you sit down like I've done in the past."

"No, I believe I can find them from here." Bill smirked before stepping up to Harry and his siblings. "Ginny, Harry, Ron…and the lovely and incredibly intelligent Ms. Granger. It's wonderful to see you again my dear."

Hermione blushed an interesting shade of red while Ginny rolled her eyes and slapped her older brother in the arm. "Stop trying to embarrass every female you meet Bill and sit down. Besides acting like you just met Hermione is pretty lame."

"You wound me dear sister." Bill gasped, grabbing his heart. "I have nothing but the utmost respect for the fairer gender. Now move over pipsqueak and let me have a seat."

"I have a name." Ron growled as he moved over so his brother could sit down. "And I'm almost bigger than you now."

"Not where it counts pipsqueak." Bill said, knuckling Ron on the head as he sat down and started taking some of the food that was on the table. "Merlin, I haven't had Hogwarts food in a long time. But then again…after being forced to eat nothing but bugs for a few days just about anything sounds good."

"Are you actually here for a reason Bill?" Ginny asked as they watched the eldest Weasley start to eat. "Or did you just stop by to steal some food and annoy our brother?"

Swallowing his food, Bill nodded as he reached into his robes and pulled out a scroll. "Actually, I'm here on official Gringotts business. Heir Potter or rather Lord Potter. This is your official declaration of emancipation from Gringotts. You'll still need to stop at the bank in order to collect your Head of House ring and go through the blood rites to gain full access to the Potter Vaults. But as of now, in the eyes of Gringotts, you are officially emancipated in the eyes of the law."

Taking the offered scroll, Harry unrolled it and read over its contents carefully. "You didn't need to come here and give me this. An owl would've sufficed. So why did the goblins send you Bill?"

Bill stared at him before smirking. "You're quick Harry. Ragnok personally sent me here, and I'm not afraid to admit that I damn near shite myself when he called me into his office, to offer you a job as a curse breaker with Gringotts the moment you finish with your NEWT exams."

Both Hermione's and Ginny's jaws dropped open while Ron's eyes doubled in size. "Why?"

Harry asked, drawing sharp looks from both Hermione and Ginny. "Does Gringotts often offer employment to a fourth year student who hasn't even taken their OWLs yet?"

"Do you know of many fourth years that can successfully cast the Stone Prison runic spell?" Bill countered with a raised eyebrow. "Bloody hell, I had to run here to try and beat at least two dragon reserves and the DOM who are all considering offering you a position."

Turning away from Bill, Harry thought for a moment about how to formulate his answer. "I'm honored Bill, truly. And please tell the goblins that as well. But unfortunately I have to turn it down. My path lies in a different direction."

If Bill was surprised, he didn't show it. "Ragnok thought that that was going to be your answer." He said, mildly surprising Harry. "Not that I actually believed you would turn it down mind you. But all the same, Gringotts still had to make the offer."

"Why?" Hermione asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.

"Because now if I take any job with a dragon reserve, or the Ministry outside of my seat on the Wizengamot it will be seen as a slight against the goblins because they offered me a job first." Harry answered. "And then they will be able to make my life a living financial hell."

"You're quick Harry," Bill smirk, slapping him on the back. "I was afraid that I was going to have to explain the repercussions of turning down this offer."

"I've been trained in politics since I was old enough to stand upright in my crib." Harry answered. "My mother was quite insistent upon it."

"Good," Bill nodded. "You'll need that training now more than ever seeing as how you're going to be– oh my. Who is that?"

Following Bill's gaze, Harry saw what had caught his attention. Fleur Delacour and a small ensemble of French witches had just entered the great hall and were making their way over to their customary spots at the Ravenclaw table. "That's Fleur Delacour," Harry answered. "She's the Beauxbatons Champion."

"That's where I have to disagree with you Harry," Bill said, his eyes following Fleur. But Harry noticed that he didn't have the glossed over look that Fleur usually caused all of the boys in the school to have. Instead he seemed…fascinated by her. Her. Not her veela. "She's not just Beauxbatons Champion. She's a goddess sent down to live amongst us unworthy mortals in human form." Or then again…maybe not.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked as Bill wiped his mouth and rose to his feet.

"My business here is done." Bill said, taking a moment to straighten his clothes and his and hair. "Now…I have much more pressing concerns. So if you will all excuse me. Lord Potter, it was an honor to meet you again. Hermione a pleasure to see you again as well. Ginny, pipsqueak. See you both later."

Giving them all a quick bow, Bill left them and made his way over to where the French contingent had sat down. Harry had to strain his ears, but he could hear Bill introducing himself in French to the girls in an overly charming manner. With just a few words he was seated with them, a girl between him and Fleur, and within a minute he had them all roaring in laughter at something he'd said.

"Good Merlin." Ron groaned as he dropped his head down onto the table top. "How in Merlin's name does he do that?"

"He has confidence Ron," Ginny smirked at her downcast brother. "Something you're going to need if you want a date to the Yule Ball. And speaking of which, have you asked anyone yet Harry? You do know that as a Champion you'll be expected to dance first with the other champions and their dates in front of the whole school right?"

Harry's fork froze halfway up to his mouth. _'Oh shit…I completely forgot about the damn ball!'_

"Leave off of it Ginny." Ron grumbled. "There's still plenty of time. And it's not like you two have dates yet either."

Hermione fixed Ron with a glare that made the redhead shift in his seat uncomfortably. "There is only just over a month Ronald. That is not 'enough time', as you put it, for a girl. You, both of you, need to get your head out of your arses and ask someone. And for your information Ronald…I already have date. He asked me yesterday, and I said yes."

Ron looked at Hermione like she'd suddenly grown two heads before turning slightly towards Ginny. "Yes Ron, someone asked me as well just this morning." She sighed, surprising even Harry.

"Who?" Harry asked.

"Neville." Ginny shrugged. "Unfortunately for him though, I know that he wants someone else and I can't really see him with me. Far too shy. So I put a boot in his arse and pushed him towards the one he wanted to go within the first place, Hannah. And she said 'yes' by the way. And Ron, stop looking so downtrodden. There is still a chance you can go with whom you want. And don't try to deny it. I know who you like brother. And if you don't grow a set of balls and ask her now then I'm going to do it for you. Not only that, but I'll write home to Mum and make sure she sends the photo album with all your baby pictures and show them to her as well."

Ron went pale. "You wouldn't."

"Try me."

Swallowing, Ron slowly, shakily, got to his feet. "Right…well then…off I go."

Ron turned and left the table, walking past all of his fellow Gryffindors before marching past the Hufflepuff table as well. Marching towards the end of the Slytherin table, Ron walked right up to Daphne and Tracey. Or more specifically Tracey. When he got to them, Ron hesitated only a second before speaking. While none of them could hear what was said, the implication was clear as Tracey went completely red in the face. She then stood up sharply, grabbed Ron by the ear and dragged him out of the Great Hall away from the prying eyes of the three dozen or so students that were in the hall.

"Poor guy," Harry chuckled before turning towards Ginny. "So, how did you know?"

"About Tracey? Please Harry, I live with my brother in a house that unfortunately has thin walls and– well let's just say that my brother isn't necessarily the quietest person around. And he talks in his sleep." Ginny grimaced. "And speaking of the ball, I talked to Professor McGonagall yesterday."

"About what?" Harry asked, his curiously peeked as the rest of the hall forgot about the little display by Ron and went back to their meals.

"The ball. Or more especially who can be invited." Ginny smirked at him, and a sense for forbearing raged through him as he suddenly knew where this conversation was heading.

"And?"

Ginny made a show of slowly putting jam onto her toast. "Well…it just so happens that there is no rule against bringing an outside party to the dance. As long as they have permission of their guardian and are magical." Pausing Ginny sent him a look that made him gulp. "Which means…Master…that if you don't invite Ahsoka to the dance when you go and see her this weekend…well I'm sure Master Nox has some nice incriminating photos of you that Ahsoka would just love to see."

The knot forming in Harry's gut was very real at that moment. "You wouldn't."

Ginny's smirk only widened. "As I told my brother, Master…try me."

Harry stared at Ginny for a long time. Tentatively, he reached out through their strong bond, a strong that was just as strong as the one he held with his mother. As he did, Ginny's smile faltered. "Why?"

Ginny's eyes slowly turned downcast. Eyeing the two of them, Hermione moved over a few paces then drew her wand and wordlessly cast a silencing bubble over the two of them before focusing in on her book once more. "Ginny?" Harry asked, reaching across for her hand. "Why are you doing this?"

Harry felt her wavering through their bond and his heart thudded in his chest as it did. "We've been Master and Apprentice for two years now Harry." Ginny began. "At first I was scared and had no idea what was going on. But now…now I couldn't imagine my life without this. I know you Harry. Bloody hell, sometimes I think I know you better than I know myself."

Pausing, Ginny whipped her eye quickly with one hand. "You know I used to have these fantasies about you. How you would come around and sweep me off my feet and we would have adventures together."

"Well…I did crash into you the first time we met so I guess you could say that you swept me off my feet." Harry tried to smile. "And our adventures are just beginning."

Nodding, Ginny smiled at him. "Yeah. Then…then I heard what Luna said. How there were going to be six of us with you…and that one or all could be…well with you." She said, blushing. "At that I began to hope…then I became your apprentice and that hope grew. And then…and then you felt her. And I knew that my silly dream was at an end. Kind of hard to argue against something when you're bonded through the Force even before you meet one another."

 _'Bonded through the Force? Is she…is she talking about Ahsoka and I?'_

"Yes I'm talking about you and Ahsoka." Ginny clarified without being asked. "I don't know if this is some sort of side-effect or something…but I can feel your bond with your mother. And…and I can feel your bond with Ahsoka. I know that she invokes feelings in you Harry. Feelings that no other can bring to light. You're stronger, more focused with her around. But most importantly…you feel complete. Happy. What sort of shitty apprentice would I be if I tried to sabotage that for some ridiculous fantasy?"

"It's not ridiculous Ginny." Harry responded eyeing the students in the hall. All of whom were still thankfully ignorant of the heartfelt conversation thanks to Hermione. "And no matter what…you will always be my apprentice. My first apprentice. And you'll have a place within my heart that no one else can have."

"I know…that's the only thing that makes this…bearable." Ginny hiccupped before pulling both of her hands away from him. "Whoa…I can't believe I finally got that out of my system."

"Are you going to be alright?"

"Yeah." Ginny smiled, and through their bond Harry knew that she was telling the truth. "But after all of this heartfelt shite…you had better ask Ahsoka this weekend or I'm going to kick your arse from one end of this castle to other. Master or not."

Smiling, Harry suddenly felt better, and more nervous, than he had all week. "As you command, my apprentice."


	12. Chapter 12

**Well what do you know, I got another chapter out! I need to apologize once again because my computer is still in the shop with a known problem that no one seems to know how to fix. I tried to answer reviews from the last chapter, and if I didn't get to yours I apologize and thank you all for the support! I love reading reviews!**

 **Anyway, just a quick warning but there is quite a lot of fluff in this chapter. As to be expected given the time of year lol. For those of you not a fan of that…there won't be a ton in this story but this chapter does have quite a bit.**

 **A big thank you to my two beta readers HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon. Thank you guys so much for your continued help!**

 **I wish you all a Happy Holidays! And see you all in 2017!**

 **Chapter 12**

"Oh Force, he actually got up and asked her right there and then? Oh Force…that is too funny! What happened next?"

Sitting atop the southern tower of the Temple, Harry felt himself smile as he watched Ahsoka laugh. The two of them were enjoying a rare moment of relaxation, free from training or studying. So, deciding to take advantage of the rare opportunity, Harry had grabbed a few bottles of butterbeer and spirited Ahsoka away to what had become "their spot", sitting on the ledge of the southern tower overlooking the ocean as the sun slowly descended towards the horizon.

But as Harry watched her laugh, he was anything but relaxed. In fact…he'd never been more terrified than he was at that moment. "Well," he said, taking a swig from the bottle in his hand. "They came in about thirty minutes later and Tracey went straight towards Daphne while Ron slowly made his way back to his seat looking like he'd just been hit by a bludger. She apparently berated him for nearly the entire time about his lack of decorum and his need to work on his tact, considering a Slytherin dating a Gryffindor would be social suicide. After her long speech he was more than ready for her to just dismiss him and have that be the end of it…but instead she actually accepted!"

"Poor Ron," Ahsoka chuckled while taking a sip from her drink. "He really has no idea what he's in for does he?"

"Nope." Harry laughed. "But despite that…I've never actually seen him so happy before. Although he did cringe when his mother sent him a letter saying that she was sending him formal dress robes. According to Ginny, there mother's sense of fashion was outdated about a hundred years ago."

Ahsoka's laughter tapered off as she began idly turning her half-full bottle in her hands. "So…who are you taking to this ball?"

Harry's good humor evaporated as he was forcefully reminded about why he'd been so unnerved for the past couple of days. "Well…that's the thing," Harry said slowly. "I haven't asked anyone yet."

Ahsoka gave him a sideways glance. "But you are one of the champions, despite the questionable method upon which you were forced into the tournament. Don't you have some obligation to attend?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "Actually I have to dance the first dance with my date along with the other champions."

"So why haven't you asked anyone yet?"

Looking down into the bottle in his hands, Harry downed the last of it before levitating it with the Force for a moment before banishing it away with a flick of his hand. Ahsoka reacted immediately by drawing her wand and firing off a blasting curse which struck the bottle dead center vaporizing it in midair. It was a game they played. Whenever one finished their drink they would throw it away from them and the other had to destroy it before it hit the ground.

"Well…truthfully there is someone that I want to ask. I'm just…oh hell. I'm just afraid that she'll say no."

"I'm sure she won't Harry, whoever she is." Harry didn't miss the slight twinge of pain in her voice, despite how well she managed to hide it. "You just need to man up and ask her."

Pulling another bottle over to him, Harry stared down at it for a moment. "You're right," he nodded, setting the bottle down and turning towards her. "Ahsoka Tano…will you do me the honor of consenting to being my date for the Yule Ball at Hogwarts?"

"Well that's– wait, what?!"

Harry just barely managed to keep his laughter in check at the look on her face as she finally processed what he'd asked her. "I'm asking if you would like to come to the ball with me Ahsoka."

Ahsoka blinked dumbly. "But– but I don't even go to your school!"

"That doesn't matter." Harry countered back, as his stomach began to drop. _'Maybe…maybe she doesn't want to be with me. But if that were so…then what was the deal in the library just before the First Task?'_ "As long as you're magical, which you are, and there isn't too much of an age gap between us, then I can invite anyone I want. And truthfully I couldn't imagine spending the night at the ball without anyone but you. Nor do I want to."

Ahsoka didn't say anything back. She just sat there staring at him in silence. And as each second passed his nerves became more and more frazzled until he feared that he couldn't help the stray thought that entered his mind, _'I just made the biggest mistake of his young life.'_ That all came to a crashing halt when he finally heard Ahsoka's response.

"I'll go with you."

And with those four words, all of Harry's fears and insecurities evaporated, leaving him feeling more alive than ever before. "You will? I– I mean – oh Merlin I'm bad at this. Th– thank you."

Smiling, Ahsoka laid her hand against his arm. "It's alright Harry. It's not like I have a lot of experience at this sort of thing or any for that matter. But I'm sure that Master Nox wouldn't mind letting me use the talisman to disguise myself for the night."

At the mention of the talisman, Harry's fears once again raised their ugly heads. "That's another thing Ahsoka." He said slowly and carefully. "I'm– I'm not ashamed of the fact that you aren't human. Not in the least. And– and I don't want you to think that I am either. So…I want you to come to the ball as you are. Without the talisman. I want to be with you. With who you truly are. Not while you're wearing a mask."

Ahsoka bit her lip and lowered her eyes. "I– I can see where you're coming from Harry. But you don't have to worry about that. I know that you aren't that type of person. And I really appreciate it, but I don't want risk everything we have here just so that I can go to a ball as I am and cause people to start asking questions that don't have answers. Or rather that we don't want to answer."

"There are already magical near-human species on Earth Ahsoka." Harry replied, trying to stay calm. "The Veela, merpeople, centaurs, goblins, elves…hell the list goes on and on. It wouldn't be hard to pass off that you're a member of a magical near-human species that my mother has contact with. And if people ask why they'd never heard of you, we can just say that you're species is reclusive and this is first for them."

Harry could see that he was starting to win her over as her head started swaying from side to side. "It's…I– oh Force I'm tired of hiding. Alright Harry. If you can convince Master Nox that I can go without risking our position here, then I would gladly go with you as I am. But if she disagrees…then I'm wearing the talisman."

"Brilliant." Harry smiled, feeling like he could walk on water.

Laughing slightly, Ahsoka turned so that she was once again facing out over the ocean. "So…this ball thing. Going as a– couple…usually indicates the two are umm…" She paused as her cheeks began to color ever so slightly. "Romantically involved."

"Well– umm…yeah it usually does mean that." Harry winced, rubbing the back of his head. _'She said it like it's a bad thing.'_

"So…are we then?"

"Huh? Are we what?" Harry asked.

Ahsoka continued to look out at the horizon, refusing to meet his eyes. "Involved."

Harry's heart thudded. "I- if…well…" Stopping himself, Harry took a deep breath. "Only if you want to be."

"And what do you want Harry?" Ahsoka asked, turning towards him. Her blue eyes wide and defenseless.

"I–" _'Oh for fucks sake Harry! Just man up and say it!'_ "I– I want us to be involved."

Ahsoka continued to stare at him for a whole minute without saying word. "Good," She said, ending the silence with a bright smile.

In that moment, Harry felt such elation that he felt as if he could walk over Voldemort with ease and bitch slap the Emperor into submission. "Brilliant." He breathed, then deciding to be daring he reached out and lightly grabbed hold of her hand.

"I'll never understand you're sayings." Ahsoka smiled, her hand tightening on his as she leaned her head against his shoulder as the two continued to watch the sun set. "But I guess…brilliant will have to work until I teach you some sayings that I understand."

* * *

The next morning, Harry found himself standing just outside his mother's quarters pacing back and forth. _'What am I supposed to say? I talked a big game to Ahsoka last night. But now that I'm here…bloody hell I don't know what to say to her!'_

Finally stopping, Harry took a deep breath and pushed open the door to his mother's room. "Took you long enough to enter Harry. I thought you were going to wear a hole in the hallway with all the pacing that you were doing."

Harry found his mother sitting behind the large desk that was positioned just before a large set of windows that overlooked the temple grounds. Littered across the surface of her desk were dozens of pieces of rolled parchments along with several thick folders.

Along the front of her desk were dozens of holographic screens that she was controlling with a wave of her hand. The computer system was a new addition, purchased during their brief excursion into the greater galaxy before heading onto the trials. Harry was actually quite jealous that he didn't have one of his own. But hopefully that would change soon enough as Nox Industries was set to release the 'prototype' of this computer system to the general public in a few months time. _'Merlin knows Hermione would kill to have one.'_

"Have I come at a bad time?"

"Not at all." His mother said, closing down the dozen or so screens with a wave of her hand and closing the folder that she was reading from. "In fact…I was just about to search for you."

Harry blinked. "You– you were?"

"Of course." She said, rising from her seat and making her way around the desk. "Come, let us go for a walk. It's been far too long since it was just the two of us. I think it will do us both some good."

Nodding, Harry followed along behind his mother as the two of them stepped out of her rooms and into the large hallway. "Have you heard from Remus and Aela?" He asked as the two of them started their walk.

"Yes," Nox nodded. "Apparently little Luke is already proving himself to be quite the handful. A few days ago while Remus was putting him down for a nap, he kept reaching for some plush toy that he enjoys. And much to Remus's shock, the little bugger actually managed to summon it from across the room."

Harry was stunned. Luke was still an infant. "He's…he's already that powerful?"

"Yes," his mother nodded before shooting him a sideways glance. "And he's not the only one. Galen is also starting to summon things to himself, and apparently last week he turned Maris pink while she was watching him."

Harry shook his head. "Those two are going to be something else when they're ready to begin their training."

"I believe so as well," Nox nodded. "Quite like yourself actually. According to Sirius and Remus, you were levitating things around and throwing around magic when you were their age as well."

For the next few hours, mother and son just walked around the temple talking. Sometimes their conversation turned serious, like when discussing potential plans for the future. But most of the time they kept it light, talking about things like his classmates, news from around the world or even at times magical theory. Eventually they made their way through most of the inner workings of the temple and made their way out onto the grounds.

"It's been far too long since we've done this my son." Nox said suddenly as the two of them walked along the edge of the northern landing platform overlooking the ocean. "I've missed this."

"So have I." Harry nodded. He truly did miss the times when it was just the two of them alone. "But I know that you're extremely busy and-"

"And that is no excuse Harry." His mother growled as she abruptly stopped and turned around to embrace him. "You're my son and I love you. You are my priority above all else."

Harry felt himself choke up slightly as he leaned into his mother and returned her embrace. "I love you too mum."

Feeling her pull away, Harry looked up into the smiling face of his mother. Her eyes were so clear and green that they were almost glowing. "Now…are you going to finally man up and tell me what happened between you and Ahsoka yesterday? Or am I going to have to drag it out of you?"

"W-What?" Harry stuttered as he was caught completely off-guard by his mother's question. "How do you know something happened between us?"

Nox merely stared at him, clearly amused with his reaction. "You're my apprentice. More so, you're my son. I felt your elation yesterday. You haven't quite got the hang of keeping your feelings from slipping through our bond. And if you're going to be seeing the lovely Miss Tano, then I'm going to have to teach that to you. With how strong our bond is; if I don't teach you how to subconsciously block your emotions from slipping through then I'm going to have a front row seat anytime you and Ahsoka slip away for a little 'private time'. It's hard enough blocking you out when you're taking care of yourself. I can't imagine just how hard it will be when you have a nice warm partner with you."

Harry's face felt like it was on fire by the time his mother finished. "Mother!"

"Something wrong Harry?"

"Yes…no…I mean…ugh." Running his hand through his hair, Harry started pacing back and forth while his mother laughed at his discomfort. "You're enjoying this…aren't you?"

"Of course I am." Nox said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "One of the perks of being a parent. Now…tell me what happened yesterday. No more jokes I promise."

Sighing, Harry went back to standing side by side with Nox. "I– I asked Ahsoka to be my date for the Yule Ball and– and she said yes."

His mother smiled widely. "Splendid. You were dancing around each other even more so than Ashara and I back when we first met. I must say though…you're faster on the uptake then I was. I think it took me nearly a year to admit what I felt towards Ashara. Even longer for Tonks. But that can't be the reason why you were so nervous to talk to me this morning. So what's weighing on your mind son?"

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Harry forced himself forwards before he could stop himself. "I don't want Ahsoka to come to the dance in disguise mother. I want her to come as she is."

His mother didn't respond immediately, instead she just stared at him. "Why? You're risking a lot by exposing her."

"I don't believe so mother." Harry responded. "There are dozens of magical near-human species around the world. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Ahsoka hails from somewhere…remote. The togruta, a reclusive magical near-human species a lot like the veela. We could even pass Master Ti off as a representative or such. Also…I don't want Ahsoka to think that I'm ashamed of her for not being human. I'm fine with her not being human, and I want everyone to know that as well."

His mother stared at him for a moment long before turning her attention back to the horizon. "No. There's too much at stake for something so trifle."

Harry stared at his mother completely taken aback. He hadn't expected her to outright deny his request. But before he could properly formulate a rebuttal, his mouth took over. "Forgive me mother…but I wasn't asking your permission. I was telling you."

The look his mother sent him could've frozen the blood in a man's veins. But Harry held his ground and forced himself to meet her eyes. "You dare defy me on something so trivial?"

"Yes." Harry said, sounding surer than he felt. "I do."

Mother and son stood silently staring at one another. In the back of his mind, a nagging fear began to take hold as he kept a wary eye on her hands, waiting for her to drawn either her wand or lightsaber. ' _Is this…do I really need to be doing this? I mean…I can't just– no. She herself admitted that this is a trifle matter. She may not think that this means much, and that the risks far outpace what I want. But I don't think so.'_

"Give me one good reason why I should let this idiocy continue."

"I've already given my reasons mother." Harry shot back. "I don't feel the need to repeat myself."

That last bit was probably a bit over the top, but for some reason Harry couldn't stop himself. _'This is important to me…damn it. Why can't she see that?!'_

His mother's eyes narrowed almost dangerously and he was honestly scared that he was about to die, whether from her magic, lightsaber or through the Force, right there and then. "Have you even stopped to consider the possible ramifications if someone were to piece together that she's an alien?"

"I don't think that will be an issue mother." Harry responded quickly. "There are merpeople, goblins, Veela. Vampires. Giants. Werewolves. House elves. Centaurs. The list goes on and on. Most of them are highly reclusive of both the magical and non-magical world as well. It wouldn't take much to convince someone that togrutas exist on our planet. Especially when there are two with us at the moment."

This mother continued to stare at him. "No."

Harry felt his rage mounting as a gust of wind rustled the bottoms of his robes. "This is happening mother. Whether you agree to it or not."

His heart felt as if it were about to thump out of his chest with how scared he was. But despite his fear, he held his ground. ' _This isn't that big of a deal and she's making it into one. And I guess I am too…but…but damn it this is important to me! I'm not going to back down just because my mother told me to!'_

Time scratched on as green eyes met green eyes in a battle of wills. It was all Harry could do to keep on his feet as the pressure just by being in his mother's mere presence almost got to the point of being unbearable. "So you will not move on this then?" His mother asked suddenly.

"No."

He stumbled forward a step as the pressure on his body disappeared without warning. When he looked up, he was shocked to find that his mother was…smiling at him.

"Good." She simply said, all traces of anger gone from her face as she swept past him.

"Wait!" He called out, spinning around and chasing after her. "Wh– what was…I don't understand. What just happened?"

Stopping, his mother turned back and around towards him. "You've been all that I could've hoped for and more in a son Harry." She said softly, her hand reaching out and caressing his jaw. "But there is one area which you've unfortunately fallen short. And that is your almost blind loyalty to me."

"What?" Harry asked taken back. "What do you mean? You're my mother!"

"Yes, and you are my son Harry. Not my slave." She said softly. "You are a Knight of the Guardian Order now. You have to stand on your own. Make your own decisions. Challenge mine that you don't agree with. I need you as my son and heir and my Knight. I don't need a slave."

Harry was rocked by what his mother was saying. _'I…I don't always rely on mother for everything…do I?'_

"That isn't to say that I want you challenging me every step of the way either." His mother continued on. "But you have to stand on your own. This…argument if you will. Was a test of your resolve to challenge me when I make a decision you don't agree on. Had you simply gone with my decision I would've been severely disappointed. But you didn't. You challenged me."

Harry took a step back. "This…this was a test?"

"Yes." Nox nodded. "But don't think that I've been planning this for a long time Harry. I simply saw this as an opportunity to test you and capitalized on it. And now you get to enjoy a pleasant evening with your lovely girlfriend. And let me tell you something son," tapering off, his mother leaned closer so that she could whisper in his ear. "Togrutas are flexible in ways that you can't even imagine. And if you treat her right…maybe Ahsoka will treat you with a show of just how flexible her species is. I seem to recall that Ashara was able to put her ankles behind her head with little trouble at all."

Harry was frozen stiff as his mother pulled away from him and started walking away. The implication was… _'Damn it all mother!'_ Harry cursed as his mother apparated away. _'Why did you have put that image in my mind!?'_

* * *

Leaning back in her chair in her office, Nox felt a smile come across her face as she thought of what had just transpired. _'He expected me to rebuke his request…and he was prepared to fight me for it. Even if he originally spoke without thinking, he made up for it quickly. That was good. We will not always see eye to eye and I can't have my son and heir afraid to go against me if need be. This was a trifle matter, but in the long run it will give him the confidence to go against me in the future if he doesn't agree with my decisions.'_

"Necessary to test him like that it was?"

Closing her eyes and letting her head fall back against the back of her chair, Nox let out a sigh. _'Of course…I'm already emotionally drained after that little "confrontation" with Harry. So of course the little bugger would feel now is the time to lecture me.'_

Turning in her chair, she found Yoda sitting on the railing of her balcony. "I usually have an open door policy around here Yoda…but I swear you're starting to push the boundaries of that policy. What if I'd been in here with Tonks huh?"

"Cries of pleasure, I heard not." Yoda shrugged, still facing out over the ocean. "Safe to enter, I assumed it was."

Arching an eyebrow, Nox turned fully towards Yoda. "We're not that loud."

"When compared to a pack of raging banthas, the truth do you speak."

"Careful Yoda. That almost sounded like a joke." Nox smiled. "Can't let it get out that you Jedi have a sense of humor. That would be such scandal."

"Humor I have," Yoda chuckled.

"So I've heard." Nox nodded, getting up from her seat and joining the aged Jedi Master on the balcony.

It was strange to think that this little being had become one of her closest confidants and advisors. Certainly she of a dozen years ago or so would've laughed at the idea. _'Or maybe not. After all, Ashara was a Jedi. Before I 'corrupted' her that is. And oh what fun it was to corrupt her.'_

"-strong in the Force, your son is. Felt his anger, the whole Temple no doubt did."

"It was necessary." Nox shrugged, waving a hand dismissing Yoda's concern. "Harry is a Knight and will soon be in charge of leading forces into battle. I need to know that he is able to stand up for what he believes in. Even if that goes against me."

"So war is inevitable." Yoda sighed, a weariness laced within his voice.

"Yes." Nox said simply. "You've sensed the growing darkness on this world. Soon Voldemort will be back and he will gather what forces he has amassed and launch his assault. And unfortunately, until we destroy his last two soul anchors we won't be able to kill him. Then there will be the revelation of the magical world, which I'm sure will cause no shortage of fear and hostilities.

"And even after all that is done…we still have the Sith Empire to deal with. So yes…war is inevitable. Whether today, tomorrow, or a dozen years from now. War will come to us. There is always war Yoda but we, as Guardians, have the responsibility to meet the challenge that is given; especially since it will be Voldemort declaring war. He won't be subtle like the Sith this time."

"True, subtle he is not. Agree I do, dangerous Voldemort is left unchecked."

Staring out over the waters, Nox shook her head and turned back around into her office. "How did our newest arrivals handle receiving their wands?"

With how busy she'd been between her own business, both the magical and non-magical governments and her son's entry into the TriWizard Tournament, Nox barely had any time to sleep let alone to spend half a day escorting the Jedi to Ollivanders in order to get fitted for their wands. So she'd delegated that task to Sirius and Yoda. She would've preferred that they'd gone sooner, but the old coot had disappeared for weeks only to reemerge briefly for the wand ceremony before disappearing again.

"React much the same as I, they did." Yoda hummed, his clawed fingers gently running over the length of his cane where he hid his wand. "Blackthron and dragon heartstring for Master Vos. Aspen and unicorn tail hair for Master Kenobi. Cypress and hippogriff feather for Master Ti. Chestnut and phoenix tail feather for young Maris. And ebony and thestral hair for Master Ventress."

 _'Interesting combinations.'_ Nox thought, thinking back on what little she knew of wand lore. Specifically the relationships and tendencies of different wand woods and cores. "And how did Nat take to the fact that she will still have to wait a year or two before receiving her own wand."

"Hmm…difficult it was, for Master Ti to explain." Yoda hummed.

"I'll talk to her then. Again" Nox sighed. "While wands are indeed powerful, they're a crutch. Use them too early and one can hamper their ability to dip into the Force at will. There are exceptions of course, but from what I've seen it's far better for the child to gain an understanding of the Force before ever grasping their wands. I'm sure we can make it worth the wait with a more practical study of magic through runes and arithmancy. One doesn't need a wand for those, nor for potion making." Nox paused in consideration, "Although we may not use it so much but there are some uses for certain potions that useful to know."

Sifting through the piles of paperwork on her desk, Nox frowned at the stack that Winky had delivered to her while she was on her walk with Harry. _'Fucking hell…I was out for an hour or two and there's already ten letters on my desk…three that are marked classified, three confidential, two from the British Ministry, one from the ICW and one from the UN.'_

Breaking open the seal on the letter from the UN, Nox let a small smile grace her lips as her eyes read over the document. "Well…looks like things are proceeding as planned, despite having to speed up the timetable." Nox said out loud, not really caring at the moment if Yoda was listening or not. "The UN has agreed to my proposal about a small outpost on the moon in hopes of setting off towards Mars. And they've agreed to give Nox Industries complete control over the project with only a small oversight committee of ten representatives to keep tabs on me."

It wasn't necessarily the base that she was pleased about, although the added income to her company would indeed help some of her side projects. But this project would act as a smoke screen for her bigger goal. To set up a mining colony within the asteroid belt. _'Just one last ingredient needed…miners. The very best. And there's only one choice.'_ "Tell me Yoda," she said causally, folding the letter back up. "How would you like to go with me and meet some long distance cousins of your species?"

* * *

Standing in his dorm room, Harry stared at himself in the mirror while straightening his more formal looking Guardian robes for the tenth time in as many minutes. Pulling out his wand, Harry cast another Tempus charm next to him. _'Less than a half an hour to go._ ' He swallowed as he saw the time hanging in front of him.

"Merlin…how do people find these robes comfortable?"

Behind him, Ron was in the process of adjusting his robes as well. Ron's mother, after receiving the letter that he had a date for the ball, sent him a set of robes that were quite frankly god awful and had no reason to exist in this century. Tracey had taken one look at the robes and had immediately set them on fire. She then dragged Ron off during the next Hogsmeade weekend to the local robe shop and forced him to be fitted for a set of formal dress robes. It'd pretty much cost Ron every knut he had, even more actually considering that he had to ask Harry for a loan, but now he had a set of formal robes that his date approved of.

"You get used to it after awhile I guess," Harry shrugged.

"Easy for you to say," Ron grumbled. "You get to wear the robes you want to. And I have to wear these."

"They're formal robes Ron, not a death sentence." Harry sighed. "And besides, Tracey picked those robes out for you. Now are you seriously going to stand there and tell me that you don't want to wear something that she picked out for you on such a special occasion?"

Ron turned away from Harry so he could stare at his reflection once again. "Well…I guess they're not too bad. And Tracey did pick them out. And she said that they looked good on me. How the bloody hell are you not nervous!"

"I am." Harry chuckled, drawing a sharp look from Ron. "I'm actually terrified."

Ron's eyes narrowed. "You don't look it. And how are you terrified? You-" Pausing Ron looked around before continuing in a softer voice. "You assaulted a bloody ship! You took on a chimera and won! And you already passed your trials. What do you have to be scared about?"

"I know how to fight," Harry nodded. "But when it comes to women…I'm just as clueless as you."

Ron's head tilted to the side. "I'm not sure if you just insulted me or not, so I'm just going to let that go."

"Probably for the best," Harry laughed, clapping his friend on his shoulder. "So…let's go face the music. Literally."

The common room was full of their male house mates who were all dressed up and waiting at the base of the stairs leading up to the girl's dormitories as they waited for their respective dates to descend. Seeing as how neither of their dates were in Gryffindor, and seeing as how Hermione told the both of them not to wait for her, they bypassed all of their house mates and made their way towards the exit. Just as they were about to leave they ran into Ginny, who'd taken up residence in one of the plush armchairs near the exit.

"Well well, who knew that you two cleaned up so well?" Ginny asked rhetorically as she stood up to block their path.

"Bugger off Ginny," Ron grumbled.

Arching an eyebrow, Ginny shook her head and stepped forward and redid Ron's bowtie, which happened to have been tied backwards despite neither Ron nor Harry noticing.

"Complement Tracey on how good she looks when you first see her Ron." Ginny said with a surprising amount of softness. "But don't continuously complement her looks throughout the night. And I swear to Merlin, if I hear that you spent more time in your seat than on the dance floor with Tracey I'm personally going to shove my broom so far up your arse that you'll be able to pick your teeth with it."

Ron blinked and stared at his sister as if she'd suddenly sprouted a second head. "O– okay."

"And Harry," Ginny continued as she rounded on him. "Same advice."

"Yes ma'am," Harry responded with a mocking bow, to which Ginny promptly smacked him across the head for.

"Don't be a smart arse Harry," Ginny chuckled. "Now both of you get out of here and have some fun. I don't want to see either you of you back here until at least midnight is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am." Harry and Ron said at the same time.

Giving them one last encouraging smile, Ginny moved off to the side and allowed the two to leave. "Good Merlin Harry," Ron breathed once they were a safe distance away from the Fat Lady's portrait. "Are all girls so barmy?"

"Ron," Harry answered, shaking his head. "I honestly have no clue."

The two didn't say another word to each other as they made their way through the empty halls and down the winding staircases. As they started to descend the last flight of stairs before the hall, the sound of dozens of excited voices reached them. "Blimey mate…I don't know if I can do this." Ron swallowed as the doors to the Great Hall came into view.

Dozens of single men and women were standing outside the doors while even more started to couple together and make their way into where the ball was to be held. "Yes you can Ron," Harry encouraged him. "And besides…it's too late now. There's your date for the night."

Ron visibly straightened as he followed Harry's line of sight across the corridor towards Tracey, who upon seeing the two of them left whatever conversation that she'd been a part of and walked over towards them. Even Harry had to admit she looked good. Her hair had been pulled back into a large bun on the back of her head. And her dark red dress hugged her body in just the right places.

"You know, it's usually the man who's waiting on the woman, not the other way around." Tracey smirked as the three drew even with one another.

"Yeah, sorry about that. It was completely my fault." Harry said, talking through his hat as Ron seemed to temporarily lost his ability to speak.

"I'm sure it was." Tracey smirked, not falling for his lie for even a second, before turning towards Ron. "Either way…thank you for making sure that my escort for the night didn't get cold feet."

Smiling, Harry patted Ron on the back. "Are you kidding me? Ron almost sprinted down here. It was all that I could do to keep up with him."

When Ron still didn't say anything, Harry smacked him on the back again. "Wha– oh sorry." Ron murmured, his face turning as red as his hair. "Tracey you– dear Merlin. There are no words to describe…you look amazing."

Now it was Tracy's turn to blush, nothing more than a slightly reddening of her cheeks, but still a blush nonetheless. "Thank you Ron," she said, stepping up to him and idly fingering the lapel of his dress robes. "You clean up pretty good yourself. Now come on. Daphne's already inside with her date. Some jackass from Beauxbatons that I know she's already regretting agreeing to go to the dance with. So we need to get to her fast. Harry…can't wait to see you dance tonight. It'll be quite the show I'm sure."

Grabbing Ron by the hand, Tracey turned and all but dragged his friend through the crowd and into the great hall. "Best of luck to you Ron," Harry mumbled as he leaned up against a nearby wall to watch as everyone began pairing up as their dates arrived.

"Hey there Harry! Why are you standing out here by yourself?"

Hearing Cedric's voice, Harry pushed himself off the wall as his fellow champion approached him from the direction of the Hufflepuff common room. But it was the woman on his arm that pulled Harry up short. "Susan?"

Susan, upon seeing his reaction, laughed as she idly stroked her hair, which had been braided into a single long braid and slung across one of her delicate shoulders. "What?" She asked candidly. "I told you that I was going to the dance didn't I?"

"Well…yeah." Harry stuttered, still trying to make sense of what he was seeing. "But you never told me with whom and…when did this happen?"

Sharing a look between themselves, Susan and Cedric both broke out in peals of laughter. "Oh my, this is far too good." Susan laughed. "I've managed to strike the great and mighty Harry Potter speechless. I so wish I had a camera. Or better yet, I'll definitely be saving a pensieve memory of this moment."

"But to answer your question Harry," Cedric pressed on. "'This', as you say, happened because of you. Or more specifically because you were entered into the Tournament. And now…now I can't imagine being with anyone else tonight."

Looking over the two of them, Harry very gently reached out with the Force. Their happiness was almost like a shining beacon in the dark. "I'm happy for you two then," Harry smiled as he pulled back. "But just so you know Cedric…Susan has been my friend and companion since well before Hogwarts. We're siblings in all but blood and share a bond that is probably deeper than that. So if you do anything to hurt her…well I hear that the acromantula in the Forbidden Forest are always in the mood for fresh meat."

"Alright Harry," Cedric laughed, patting him on the shoulder. "No need to go all 'big brother' on me here."

Even though Cedric thought he was joking, Susan knew that he wasn't. "So Harry, when is your date going to be here?" She asked, trying to shift the topic of discussion.

Cedric's eyes immediately lit up. "That's right, just who is your date Harry? I think that's probably one of the top topics to talk about in Hogwarts right now. 'Just who is Harry Potter bringing to the ball?' Fleur is the only other one whose date is a complete mystery. Actually, there are a couple of bets going around school at the moment that you two are going together. Susan denied it though as she apparently knows, but alas she has refuted all of my efforts to coax it out of her."

"Because had I told you, you would've headed straight for the nearest betting pool." Susan sighed dramatically. "He may put on the perfect student persona, but he's actually quite the rule breaker. And besides, it wasn't my secret to tell."

"Well it won't be a mystery for much longer." Harry shrugged. "And as for when she'll be here…she's being escorted here by my godfather Sirius…so hopefully they'll be here right before the dance is about to begin. If not…then I'm going to kill him."

Susan smiled at him, before her eyes drifted past his shoulder and up the stairs behind him. "Whoa…you're not the only one who cleans up extremely well Harry."

Following her line of sight, Harry turned around…and had to pick his jaw up off the floor. Hermione stood at the top of the stairs, her eyes wide and a sense of nervousness rolling off of her in waves. Not that she had any reason to be nervous in Harry's opinion. She looked positively divine in the pale pink almost white dress that she'd chosen to wear. "Hermione." Harry greeted, sweeping into a slight bow. "You look splendid this evening."

"Thank you Harry. You look handsome as well." Hermione beamed as she gracefully made her way down the stairs before holding out her hand so that Harry could escort her down the last few steps.

"Thanks." Harry smiled, before leaning slightly and lowering his voice so only they could hear. "You have nothing to be nervous about Hermione. You look positively radiant. Your date, whoever it is, won't know what hit him."

"Thank you Harry," Hermione nodded back. "And as for who my date is…he's standing right behind you."

Turning around with Hermione's hand still in his own, Harry found himself face to face with Viktor Krum. _'Well…this is awkward.'_ Harry thought, just barely managing not to wince at the jealousy that was rolling off of Viktor. _'Well…might as well have fun with this! Sirius always says that I take life far too seriously.'_

"Master Krum." Harry announced loudly, holding up Hermione's hand. "It is my privilege and honor to present to you the jewel and flower of Gryffindor House, Ms. Hermione Granger!"

Both Cedric and Susan looked like they were about to fall over as they tried to contain their laughter while Hermione turned completely ashen and looked like she wanted the floor to come alive and swallow her whole. Krum looked at the four of them completely lost for a second, before he did something that surprised everyone. He proceeded to give Harry and Hermione a deep and respectful bow.

"My thanks for escorting her thus far, Master Potter. And I vow to you that I shall treat Ms. Granger with the respect and honor a jewel such as herself deserves."

Hermione's face turned an even more interesting shade of red, but this time for an entirely different reason altogether. "Thank you Viktor." Hermione mumbled, forcibly letting go of Harry's hand and all but leaping across the small distance between Harry and Krum, but not before uttering one last shot at Harry. "You are so going to pay for this later Harry."

Feeling a familiar brush against his mental barriers, Harry smirked as he saw a small horde of Beauxbatons girls walk into Hogwarts with Fleur at the head of the ensemble. Fleur had definitely gone all out, and causing more than one or two boys to be smacked upside the head by their dates as they turned to watch her as she passed them by. She was wearing a silver floor length dress that left her shoulders bare and her hair, while not braided, was slung across one shoulder much in the same fashion as Susan. In short…she was stunning.

By the time Fleur reached the rest of them, the small group she'd been a part of had all split off to find their own dates, leaving the six of them alone in the hallways next to the great hall. "So I see that we are the only two without dates yet Harry." Fleur commented after nodding in greeting to each of them. "Perhaps we shall dance the first dance together to punish our dates for their tardy no?"

Harry made to answer, but before he could he felt several familiar presences appear within the castle several floors above where they were currently standing. "Sorry Fleur," Harry smiled, "going to have to take a rain check on that dance offer. It appears that our partners for the evening have arrived."

Harry tuned out everything as he locked onto her presence and followed her as she made her way through the castle. At one point he could've actually sworn that she'd reached out to him as well, but it'd been remarkably brief encounter. If it had even happened. When they were just a short distance away, Harry turned towards the direction he knew that she would be coming from and tried to picture what she might look like so he could brace himself. But nothing that he could've done would've prepared him for the sight that greeted him.

Standing at the top of the stairs with Sirius on one side, Bill Weasley on the other and Professor McGonagall leading the way was his date for the night.

His lungs refused to work and his heart lurched up into his throat as the world faded away, leaving only Ahsoka walking down the stairs towards them. The first thing he noticed was the obvious fact that she wasn't wearing her talisman, proudly showing off her togruta heritage. The second was her choice of dress.

She was wearing a dark teal-blue dress that left her shoulders and a slight diagonal section of her midriff bare and was adorned with a few golden accents here and there. As she stepped down he also noticed that the dress had a slit up the side from floor to just above her knee that exposed part of her leg as she walked. And atop her head was a golden tiara that wove in-between her montrals. All of the girls in the school had looked beautiful that night. But to Harry…Ahsoka was in a league of her own.

"Ahsoka," Harry breathed as the she stepped off the last of the steps separating the two of them. "You– Merlin I can't– you look absolutely amazing."

Ahsoka's face lit up like a sun as she beamed at him. "You look good too Harry," she said lowly as she stepped forward so that the two of them were standing almost face to face.

A loud sniffling noise broke their moment as both of them turned their heads towards a dramatically sniffling Sirius. "Just like James…he knew he was going to marry your mother the moment he laid eyes on her. The 'Potter Family Curse', he called it. Love at first sight. And now…now my godson has fallen victim to his family's curse and-"

"Enough of that Mr. Black." McGonagall growled, slapping Sirius upside the head fairly hard. "You are here as a chaperone and guide to Ms. Tano. Not to embarrass my lions."

"Yes ma'am," Sirius sighed, rubbing the back of his head where McGonagall had slapped him. "Well Harry…have fun! And don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"Is there anything you haven't or wouldn't do Sirius?" Harry called out as Sirius headed for the doors to the hall.

"Smartarse." Sirius grumbled loudly as he disappeared from sight leaving just the champions, their dates and Professor McGonagall out in the hall.

Now alone, Professor McGonagall motioned for them all to stand before her. "Now that all of you are here we can begin," she stated. "I will be announcing you and your date's one pair at a time. Mr. Diggory, as the champion of the host school you shall be entering first. Then Ms. Delacour and Mr. Weasley shall be next. Followed by Mr. Krum and Ms. Granger. And lastly Mr. Potter and Ms. Tano. Once your names are called you shall walk out onto the dance floor. Once all of you are in position the first dance shall commence opening the ball. Are there any questions?" Everyone shook their heads. "Good. Now please wait here until I call for you."

The silence amongst the four pairs lasted until McGonagall disappeared through the doors. The moment she was out of sight, Cedric, Fleur and Bill all rounded on Harry and Ahsoka, although it was Bill who managed to get the first words in edgewise, although Fleur was a close second. "So Harry…who is this?"

"I can speak for myself," Ahsoka said not unkindly. "My name is Ahsoka Tano, and before you ask the obvious question, I'm not human. I'm part of a near-human species known as a togruta."

"I've never heard of the togruta." Fleur responded, her voice laced unsurprisingly laced with curiosity.

"Understandable," Ahsoka nodded before launching into the story that Harry's mother and Sirius had prepared for them. "My people are usually extremely reclusive, and given the feelings of most of the magical Ministries around the world I'm sure you can understand why. But Madam Nox knew of us and brought Harry and his friends to our lands on a pilgrimage this past summer. Harry and I met during this time and we 'hit it off' so to say. It was then decided that I would travel with Madam Nox to learn what I could. And now…here I am."

Before anyone else could ask either of them a question, the doors to the great hall opened on their own as McGonagall's voice floated to them from within. _**"-your Triwizard Champions. First, from Hogwarts Mr. Cedric Diggory and Ms. Susan Bones!"**_

Cedric straightened like he had a steel rod up his back and held out his hand for Susan, who took it without hesitation, and proceeded to head into the great hall. _**"Next, from Beauxbatons Mademoiselle Fleur Delacour and Mr. William Weasley."**_ Fleur and Bill, who were already hand in hand, waited for just a second or two after being announced before walking into the hall.

 _ **"Your third champion, from Durmstrang Mr. Victor Krum and Ms. Hermione Granger."**_

There were no small amount of gasps and whispers as Hermione, a muggleborn and considered by many in the school to be an outsider, walked into the ball, arm in arm with one of the most famous wizard, and not to mention eligible bachelor, in the world. _'Merlin…if this is the reaction that Hermione's receiving…what kind of reaction will Ahsoka have? Maybe…maybe I shouldn't have pressed her to not wear the talisman.'_

Feeling a slight press against his hand, Harry looked down and found Ahsoka's slim fingers weaving between his own. Looking up into her face, Harry felt his heart thud against his chest with such force that he was afraid he would break a rib. _'No. I don't regret anything. If the world can't accept her…then that's their problem not mine.'_

"You ready to start some trouble?" Harry asked, attempting to keep his voice steady and coy.

Ahsoka smiled, but he could still sense the knot of nervousness that was within her. _'Stay strong…for her.'_ "Who do you think you're talking to Harry? Trouble is my middle name."

"Ahsoka Trouble Tano," Harry smiled, "Quite the mouthful."

"Stop being a smartass Harry," she smiled, shouldering him lightly.

 _ **"And lastly, our fourth Champion. From Hogwarts Mr. Harry Potter and Ms. Ahsoka Tano."**_

Taking one last steadying breath, Harry led Ahsoka through the doors and into the hall. Harry was expecting a fair share of gasps to greet them. But instead they were met with only silence, the only sound in the entire hall being the slow and steady steps of Harry and Ahsoka as they made their way through the stunned crowd towards the dance floor where the other champions waited. Finding their spot, Harry pivoted and reached around so that he was holding Ahsoka's hand in his left and had his right resting onto the small of her back.

The music seemed to take an eternity to start as Harry was standing there with Ahsoka in his arms and the eyes of every student from three different schools staring at them in shock and confusion. He almost breathed a sigh of relief as the music started to flow as it forced him to take his mind off of the crowd as he stepped first with his left, and then his right before leading Ahsoka through the basic waltz that he knew.

 _'This is nice_.' Harry thought as he stepped back and twirled Ahsoka around in a tight circle before pulling her close once more. His nervousness slowly dying with each step. Ahsoka's lips twitched upwards as he spun her around. Her joy was so powerful and contagious that Harry felt himself smiling along with her. ' _Whoever thinks that dancing is stupid is a bloody idiot!'_

All too soon the orchestra reached its crescendo and music ended almost abruptly. All around them the students of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang applauded politely a few of the more brave ones stepped out onto the dance floor with the champions as they waited for the next song to begin. "Do– do you want to stay out here? With me?" Harry asked the beauty in his arms.

Ahsoka, after casting a quick glance around, nodded. "I would like that Harry."

The music started up again, this time a slightly faster tune that turned the dance floor into a mass of swirling and moving pairs. Moving quickly, Harry started to lead her through a few basic steps, trying to keep them from bumping into anyone. _'Not an easy task_.' He cursed as they just barely managed to avoid a Durmstrang student and his date as they flew past, completely obvious to anyone else on the floor. ' _Although it might be easier if Ahsoka wasn't so soft…so warm…the light scent of perfume and…who the hell am I kidding. I wouldn't change this moment for the world!'_

Harry had no idea how long the two of them were out on the floor together with one another. After a time everything just seemed to blur together. There were classical songs where the two danced arm in arm with each other. Then there were the slow songs where Harry's heart threatened to beat out of his chest as she leaned into him.

Then there were the more modern and fast paced songs where Ahsoka would let go a dance in a manner that made his heart stop as all of his blood circulated to another part of his body. Harry wasn't aware of much going on around him during this time, but the few times he did manage to get a look around he was glad to see that all of the rest of his friends that came to the dance seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Hell, even Ron spent a lot of time on the dance floor with a positively beaming Tracey. The only person he couldn't find was Daphne. And while that did concern him slightly he pushed it to the back of his mind. _'Daphne's more than capable of taking care of herself.'_

"I think I'm ready for that break now Harry." Ahsoka breathed against his shoulder as yet another slower paced song came to an end. "I need a drink and I think I could eat a bantha whole…so where's this food table I keep seeing people disappear too?"

Not trusting himself fully to speak, Harry nodded back into her shoulder and the two separated from one another and moved off of the dance floor and towards where the buffet table had been set up. Thankfully Ahsoka had been on Earth long enough to identify most of the food that'd been laid out for them, but there were still a few dishes that he could tell she was trying to decipher just what they were before giving up and moving on.

Once they both had a plate of food they made their way along the outskirts of the Great Hall turned into a ballroom and towards the table that'd been reserved for the champions and their dates for the night. Hermione and Viktor were both sitting at the table as were Bill and Fleur. Not that Harry could blame them, both couples had danced just as much as Harry and Ahsoka. Remembering the pointers that his godfather had given him, Harry set his food down on the table first before holding Ahsoka's chair for her.

"Finally had enough you two?" Bill asked as he leaned back and sipped on drink.

"For now," Harry nodded, lightly picking at his food. "I'm up for going back out there after we eat if Ahsoka is."

"Oh, I definitely am."Ahsoka smiled as she speared a small piece of meat.

The group fell into an easy silence as they picked at their food. By the time they all cleared their plates Susan and Cedric appeared seemingly from nowhere and took their seats. Small talk floated around the table as the four couples took their time to rest before heading back onto the dance floor.

"-came running out of his tent, screaming at the top of his lungs that he loved her and couldn't live without her." Bill laughed, rubbing at the corner of his eye as he told them of one of his many "misadventures" during his time as a curse breaker.

"And then what happened?" Hermione asked clearly enthralled, much to her dates chagrin, by Bill's anecdote.

"He ran right up to the nearest cactus and gave it a big ol' hug and kiss." Bill laughed as everyone else at the table, even Ahsoka laughed. "We were picking needles out of the poor bloke for two days straight. And to this day, none of us have been able to figure out just what that dame had slipped into his drink after he copped a feel. But whatever it was, it sent a very clear message across the campsite."

As the laughter started to die down, Bill whipped his mouth with his napkin before setting it over his plate and rising to his feet. "Now if you all will excuse us, I've been most neglectful of my duties this evening. So…Mademoiselle Delacour, would you please do me the honor of joining me for a dance?"

"I would love to Bill." Fleur responded with a bright grin as she graciously accepted his offered hand, allowing the eldest Weasley to lead her away from the table.

The two had only taken a few steps onto the dancefloor before Viktor rose from his seat and offered his hand to Hermione. "My lady Hermione, would do me the honor of this dance?"

"I'd love too," Hermione responded, taking his hand and allowing him to lead her away.

"Well," Susan shrugged as she turned back around from where she'd been watching Fleur and Bill, "now that those four are – oh no."

Following Susan's line of sight, Harry nearly groaned aloud as the twins, Fred and George, plopped down in the recently vacated seats, pulling their dates Alicia and Katie along with them. "Harry Potter! Son of Prongs! Heir to the Marauders! We are unworthy!"

"Okay," Ahsoka whispered out of the corner of her mouth while leaning over towards him. "Why are these two groveling?"

"With Fred and George…who knows? And these two lovely ladies are Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet and Merlin only knows why they agreed to actually date these two miscreants." Harry introduced them, pointing at both twins and their dates respectively.

"Hey! That's not nice!" Fred cried.

"Yeah," George nodded. "After all I'm Fred and he's George! I'm the pretty one after all."

"Are you sure? I thought that I was Fred today."

"No I'm pretty sure I was Fred today."

"No, you're with Alicia, so that means that you're George today."

"That's right! Fred with Katie and George wit– ouch!"

Both of the twins were cut off rather abruptly as Katie and Alicia proceeded to smack their respective dates upside the head. "Knock that off, both of you." Alicia sighed. "You know how much we hate it when you try to pull this shite."

"And besides, you two already tried to pull that whole switching trick to see if we would notice." Katie continued, wiggling her eyebrows. "And you two know the price for that kind of stunt. So don't even joke about it."

Both twins flinched as their hands went involuntarily down to their laps. _'Really, really don't want to know.'_ "So," Harry sighed. "Did you two have a goal in coming over here?"

Both twins recovered enough to smirk at him. "We came over to congratulate you on an excellent prank tonight Harry!"

"A prank?" Ahsoka repeated flatly. "You two take me, a non-human, being here with Harry as some kind of joke?"

Realizing the dangerously thin ice they were on, the twins back waving their hands and back tracking as fast as they could. "No no no! Not at all! We're all for you and Harry being together! Spread the love around we always say!"

"No, the joke is on the Wizarding World that Harry just unintentionally pulled off." George added quickly. "We might not like those pureblood dickheads that like to think they control everything in our society-"

"-but we do understand politics. Probably better than our father would like to think we do." Fred continued on seamlessly. "It was expected by the purebloods for Harry to bring a pureblood date to this event. Especially as he is a Champion and more so one of the most eligible bachelors in all of Europe. But instead-"

"He brings the lovely Ms. Tano instead." George smiled, raising his cup. "Basically...with just one date Harry has stood up and said 'Fuck You' to all of those uptight purebloods. And they're going to be trying to figure out just what the hell happened for weeks!"

"So…bravo Harry and Ahsoka! The new power couple of the wizarding world!" The twins finished as one, raising their mugs to him and Ahsoka. "And we wish you two the very best as you stick it to those uptight pureblood idiots! Present company excluded of course."

Raising his glass, Harry accepted their toast and took a slow drink. "Hmm…a bit mild wouldn't you say so George?" Fred asked as he looked down at the glass in his hand.

"I quite agree Fred." George nodded before reaching down to his ankle and pulling out a small silver flask. "Good thing we brought some extra flavoring then isn't it?"

"You two snuck firewhiskey into a school ball?" Cedric asked, clearly floored as the twins poured a measure of the whiskey into their own glasses before repeating the process with Katie's and Alicia's.

"Of course they did." Katie chuckled. "Why do you think Alicia and I agreed to go with them? They always know how to have a good time."

"What's the matter Cedric? If you want a splash of flavoring all you need to do is ask." Fred smirked, playing with the flask in his hand.

Cedric glared at the twins for a full minute before holding out his own cup. "Ah, what the hell. This is my last year anyway. Might as well have some fun."

"Now that's what we like to hear!" George smirked as he tipped a fair amount of the whiskey into Cedric's glass. "And how about our house champion? Care for a little 'flavoring' Harry?"

Swirling his drink, Harry shrugged and pushed his glass towards George who put in a decent splash of the alcohol into his drink. Ahsoka stared at them for a moment before holding out her own glass towards the twins. Fred smirked widely and added a good amount, slightly more than what Harry was given, to her cup. As Harry pulled his cup back, a fourth cup was pushed towards the twins.

"I– I don't know about this Susan." Fred said slowly. "Don't want your Aunt finding out about this."

"And if you don't add some right now, McGonagall will find out about what you two have right here and now." Susan responded archly as she motioned with her cup.

Touché Ms. Bones." George chuckled as he reached passed his twin and add just a small splash to Susan's drink.

Swirling his cup around a few times to mix his drink, Harry took a brief sniff of the mixture before taking a big gulp and nearly coughed up a lung as the warm liquid burned on its way down his throat. "Bloody hell!" He coughed, trying desperately to not be too loud so as to not draw attention to their table.

"Well then don't drink it so fast idiot." Ahsoka smiled before taking a much smaller sip. But despite her much more controlled portion, Ahsoka's face still turned slightly red and she couldn't help but cough slightly.

"Ah, rookies." Katie laughed before upending her cup and taking all of it in one go. _'Good Merlin…she had more in there than I did!_ ' "Well what are you waiting for Fred? I thought you were going to show me a good time tonight!"

The drinks flowed at a fairly steady pace after that with Fred and George adding quick splashes to each drink as often as they could without being caught by the chaperons. Not that the chaperons were doing much good anyway.

Hagrid was quite enthralled with Madame Maxime and was keeping her completely occupied. Moody was off in a corner completely drunk. McGonagall and Dumbledore were dancing with one another on and off so were distracted as well. And Karkaroff didn't seem to give two shits either way. Sirius had actually walked by and caught them as Fred was pouring Harry another splash, but instead of taking their drinks away, he simply handed Fred another flask with instructions to "not let the young ones get too blitzed".

After more than a dozen drinks Harry was still feeling good so he offered his hand to Ahsoka so that they could dance. But it was when he got up that the alcohol finally caught up to him. 'Good Merlin…what the…I was fine just a second ago…when did everything start tilting.'

"You alright Harry?" Ahsoka asked, her words slightly slurred and uneven.

"Yup." Harry smirked as he all but pulled Ahsoka onto the dance floor. "Now come on! I promised you a good time and I intend to fulfill that promise!"

Ahsoka laughed as he spun her around and around completely off beat to the music around them as they made fools of themselves. Maybe it was because of the alcohol in his blood, but Harry found that he didn't care if he looked like a fool or not. All that mattered was that Ahsoka was laughing. And right there and then he vowed that he would do anything to keep the smile on her face. Then a snide voice behind him proceeded to do just that.

"Well Potter…and here I thought that you couldn't disgrace the name of an Ancient and Noble House any more than you already have. But here you are…with…her. How disgraceful. Your ancestors are more than likely rolling over in the graves out of disgust."

Harry didn't even try to hide his groan as he turned around and glared at the one who interrupted them. _'Of course…I was having far too good of a night for this little ferret not to interfere.'_

Standing just a pace away from Harry and Ahsoka was a sneering Draco Malfoy with a glaring Pansy hanging off of his arm. He tried to just ignore the two, but unfortunately his vision snapped back to Pansy before he forced himself to look away. _'Good Merlin…if she leans over at all she'll fall out of that dress! In fact…I think she already is!'_

"Ugh, just go away Malfoy," Harry said, waving Draco off. "I'm trying to have a pleasant evening here."

"What's the matter Potter?" Malfoy smirked, tightening his arm around Pansy. "See something that you like? I bet you're regretting taking that creature now that you see-"

Spinning away from Ahsoka and snapped his wand into his hand before stepping forward so he was face to face with Malfoy, his wand pointed at the boy's "family jewels". Everything happened in less than a fraction of a second, leaving Draco ashen faced and trembling as he felt Harry's wand press into him. "Watch your tongue Draco." Harry growled, his control slipping as his voice vibrated with the Force. "One more word…and I will end the Malfoy line here and now."

Malfoy's eyes widened in fear and Pansy took a step back and actually shivered. "H– How dare you." Malfoy growled. "When my fath-"

"Isn't here. And if that's your best defense Draco then you're far more pathetic than I ever imagined." Harry growled, his control slipping even further as he jabbed his wand into Malfoy. "You can't do anything other than cry out for your father. Well guess what? Your father isn't here. And Snape is too far away to protect your scrawny pale ass. You make another comment like that about Ahsoka…and I'll make you beg for death before leaving you in the Forbidden Forest as a nice midnight snack for the acromantula there. Understand?"

Malfoy, now completely white, nodded vigorously. "Splendid." Harry smiled, stepping back and retracting his wand back into its sheath. "I'm glad we could reach an understanding. Now run along little ferret. I don't want to see you again tonight."

Malfoy spun around, grabbed Pansy by the hand, and all but ran out of the Great Hall.

Sighing, Harry turned back around to Ahsoka, who was staring at him with a mixture of confusion, awe, and something else he couldn't identify. "I– I'm sorry about that." He muttered. "I didn't mean to ruin the good time we were having."

"You didn't Harry." Ahsoka smiled, stepping up to and wrapping her arms around him. "I– I appreciate what you just did there. But next time…please let me handle it okay? I don't want you to fight all of my battles for me."

Not trusting himself fully to speak, Harry merely nodded before returning her embrace and slowly swaying his body back and forth to the slow steady beat of the music. The two stayed that way for a long time, even as others started filing out for the night they stayed together in each other's arms. "This has been a wonderful night Harry." Ahsoka said, pulling back just enough so that she could look him in the eye. "I wish that I didn't have to leave soon."

"So do I." Harry said back, not wanting to think about not having her near again. "But you don't have to leave yet right? Come on, I want to show you something."

Not giving her the chance to respond, Harry took her by the hand and led her out of the great hall and up the stairs. The two were almost running through the deserted halls of Hogwarts, laughing slightly as they did. Soon enough they found themselves in the astronomy tower. Leading Ahsoka over to the balcony, Harry swept Ahsoka up bridal style and jumped up onto the roof of the tower. "Harry!" Ahsoka cried joyfully, "what are you-"

"Shhh." Harry shushed her as he set her down onto the ledge.

Pulling out his wand he cast a quick warming charm on her and then himself. He then turned his wand downwards and swept all of the snow off away. "I found this spot by accident during my second year. And if I was to show you anything tonight…I wanted it to be this."

The overhang was actually quite spacious, enough so that two people could lay down side by side comfortably despite the spire. And from it, one had an unrestricted view of Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, the mountains and the Forbidden Forest. "Harry," Ahsoka breathed, looking around in wonder. "This…this is beautiful."

Leading her close to the edge, Harry sat down so that his legs were hanging over the edge before patting the spot next to him for her to sit down. "I know. I come up here whenever I need to clear my mind. It might be as grand as our spot in the temple, but I love it all the same."

Taking a seat next to him, Ahsoka lightly bumped her shoulder against his own. "And how many girls have you taken up here?"

Ducking his head, Harry coughed nervously. "Um…you're the first actually."

"Good answer." Ahsoka smiled before looking out over the horizon. "I'm still kind of cold though."

Harry blinked. His warming charm couldn't have worn off by then could it have? "Do you want me to apply another warming charm?"

"No." Ahsoka said shaking her head. Grabbing his arm, she wrapped it around her shoulders and leaned into him. "There…that's better."

Harry's heart started to thump almost painfully in his chest. "Ahsoka…I-"

Below them the door to the tower was thrown open with enough force to bounce off of the wall as two sets of giggles floated up to where they were sitting. Peering over the edge, Harry felt his face heat up as he saw two older students that appeared to be trying to suck each other's faces off as the boy awkwardly closed the door before leading the girl towards one of the darker corners of the tower.

"I– I forgot about that." Harry said awkwardly as he turned back towards Ahsoka. "This tower is also one of the…ah…premiere snogging locations in the school."

One of Ahsoka's eyebrows rose as she gave him a half-smirk. "Is that why you brought me up here Harry? Trying to get a good…'snogging'…out of me?"

"No!" Harry cried. "I would never– I mean you're worth the attempt but I would never presume to– I mean I–"

"Harry!" Ahsoka laughed swatting him on the shoulder. "It's alright. I know you well enough to know that you aren't that type of man." Her laughter tapered off as she turned back towards the darkened horizon. "Although…I don't think I'd mind in the least if you were right now."

Harry's mind ground to halt. _'She couldn't…did she just…_ ' Not trusting himself to speak, Harry reached out and lightly took Ahsoka by the chin, turning her face to his, his eyes focused solely on hers. Moving slowly as to give her time to back away, Harry leaned forward ever so slightly until they were less than an inch apart. Her warm breath tickled his skin. Harry held his spot, waiting for her. His self-control evaporated as she quickly licked her lips, and then Harry closed the last crucial inch separating them and pressed his lips to hers.

There were no fireworks like in the stories, but as soon as their lips touched Harry felt complete in a way he'd never imagined before. He felt a peace…like this was where he was always meant to be. Then Ahsoka gasped slightly and everything changed. Harry grunted as his back impacted the roof as Ahsoka pushed him down and pinned him there, her lips pressed tightly against his own. Her hands went up and tangled into his hair, pulling his head back before she drove down and attacked his neck just below his ear.

A need spread through Harry's chest like an inferno. He wanted more. No. He needed more. Now!

Grabbing Ahsoka by her sides, Harry quickly flipped them over in place so that he was now above her. Mimicking what she'd done, Harry attacked her neck from just below the base of her ear down to her collar bone. He found the sweet spot as Ahsoka gasped when reached her collarbone. Wanting to hear it again, Harry renewed his efforts as her arms wrapped around his back, pulling him even closer to her.

Feeling her fingers pull on his hair once more, Harry let her guide his face back up to hers as their lips found each other's once more. Still feeling the need for more, Harry parted his lips slightly, allowing his tongue to lightly brush against her lips. Ahsoka gasped again as her grip tightened on his hair, but it was her tongue that snaked out and forced its way into his mouth first.

 _'Holy shit!'_ Harry thought, or cried out he didn't know or care at that point _. 'This is…this is bloody well wonderful and– and why the fuck am I thinking right now?'_ Feeling Ahsoka's hand sliding up and down the lengths of his back sent shivers of pleasure thought Harry and any coherent thought he had left in him fled as he lost himself in her.

* * *

Trudging through the knee deep snow covered graveyard, Lucius Malfoy kept his eyes trained on the not so small house standing atop a hill before him. A few days prior he had received a letter by owl that he had never thought to receive. _'The rat came home. But why now? His letter indicated that he had vital information for me, but he never specified what that information was.'_

Hearing a thud and a slight curse off to his left, Lucius just barely managed to fight back a growl The letter he'd received from the rat asked him to come alone, but there was no chance of that. So he contacted a few individuals that remained after the debacle at the Quidditch World Cup to follow him and see to it that the rat got his proper due. He'd spent a lot of time and money to get the little creature out of Azkaban, and in the end it'd been for nothing. 'Well not necessarily nothing. Fudge has become even more dependent on me ever since the escape so that was an unexpected boon. But on the same hand, he's also become more dependent on Nox. Which was not my intention in the least.'

As his thoughts drifted to the few that he'd brought with him, he was inevitably reminded of the failure that was the Quidditch World Cup. The plan had been to bring some fear back into the wizarding world. Too many mudbloods and half-bloods were starting to think that they were equals to the purebloods. Which was something that he could not allow. A select few targets had been chosen, and Lucius drafted those he knew would be amenable to the cause. Things had started out relatively well as they managed to cause quite a bit of destruction. Then those damnable…people showed up. These so-called Guardians.

His men didn't stand a chance against the cloaked individuals. Even though they outnumbered them two-to-one, his men were handled with ease. They were good, there was no denying that. At least one of them was on level with Lucius himself. Although he was sure that if he didn't have such idiots with him at the time he could've handled the cloaked meddlers easily.

And those strange swords that were able to reflect even the killing curse…such a weapon could shift the tides of war. He needed to get his hands on one immediately. If he could track down one he could use their family against them, or maybe he would simply throw enough gold at the individual to get them to turn.

There was just one problem with that thought…he had absolutely no idea just who they were! His first thought was that they were the remnants of Dumbledore's little bird club that he'd formed during the war. But he dismissed that. No, those fools were more concerned with capturing the followers of the Dark Lord rather than actually fighting for real. No. Whoever these "Guardians" were they were something new. Something dangerous, and something that he could not afford to have around.

 _'But there will be time to dwell on this new nuisance in time._ ' He thought, pushing all thoughts of the Guardians to the back of his mind as he climbed the five wooden steps up onto the porch. _'Right now I have a rat to handle.'_

Stopping just shy of the door, Lucius pulled out his wand and waved it over the entrance. ' _No wards. No curses. Not even a Morgana forsaken locking charm. Just a simple muggle lock. How pathetic.'_

A simple unlocking charm later, and the door slowly swung open. The interior of the house was in horrible condition. Paint was chipping off the walls and a thick layer of dust covered everything he could see, save for a single line of tracks leading up the stairs to the second level of the house. Waving his hand, he signaled for the few men he took with him to spread out and surround the house. _'There will be no escaping for you today, little rat.'_

Keeping his wand trained in front of him, Lucius slowly made his way up the stairs, pausing only occasionally to search for any traps before continuing on. As he reached the second floor, he saw a single light coming from around a door that was slightly ajar at the end of the hall. He could hear a muffled voice from the room beyond, but nothing distinguishable. 'Sounds like the rat is muttering to himself.'

Making his way silently down the hall, Lucius waited until he was just before the door before pulling his wand back and firing off a blasting curse.

The door flew off of its hinges and clear across the room where it splintered against the far wall. Marching in right behind the destruction, Lucius made a quick sweep of the room. The only piece of furniture was a high backed chair that was facing away from him and towards the fireplace that had a low burning fire going within. And cowering just in front of the chair was the rat himself.

"Hello rat." Lucius growled before banishing the rat across the room. "You have thirty seconds to give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't tear you apart piece by piece."

"Because…he servesss…me. Asss do…you…Luciussss."

Lucius's concentration broke as he let the rat fall to the floor, his focus solely and whole on the lone chair in the room. _'No…it couldn't be…could it?'_

Making his way around the chair, Lucius nearly fell over. Sitting on the chair was a small child like homunculus. But despite its malformation…there was no doubt in his mind as to who this homunculus was. "Master," he breathed, dropped to one knee before the greatest Dark Lord since Lady Morgana. "You're alive. We all thought that you'd met your end at the hands of the Potter brat."

"You sssound…sssurprised Luciusss." His Master almost sounded amused. "I am…the greatest Dark Lord…and I…have mastered death…itself. Asss for my…untimely withdrawal…the Potter boy had…nothing to do with…it. It was hisss…mudblood mother…that caused my…destruction."

Lucius found that almost harder to believe than Potter defeating the Dark Lord. _'No mudblood, no matter how talented could hope to stand up against a pureblood Dark Lord.'_

"Asss for…young Potter…if you thought he…wasss responsible for…my 'demise'. Then why…is he still…alive?"

Lucius cursed himself. "I have tried several times to avenge you my lord. I swear it. But the brat has proven himself to be most elusive. And his…mother…Nox has proven to be quite protective of her young charge."

"Yesss…Nox…Wormtail hasss told…me much about…her." Glancing up, Lucius swallowed as he saw the creature that was his Master staring off to the side with a wicked grin on his face. "The night of…my 'fall'…she killed one of my…ssservantsss. Liquefied his brain…according to Wormtail."

Glancing over at the cowering rat, Lucius fixed the beady eyes little creature with a glare. ' _Surely he's exaggerating. The Nox that I know, while politically adept and moderately powerful, is would not use such a dark curse. She's just as soft as the old fool himself.'_

"I'm sure he was just exaggerating my Lord."

"No…he wasss not." His master rasped, making Lucius furrow his brow in confusion. "I've…encountered the Potter…brat again. He hasss…been well trained. Training…unlike any I…have ssseen in…the wizarding world. Only Nox…could've trained him…ssso. He killed…Quirrell without hesitation."

Now Lucius was even more confused. He remembered Quirrell. The man's stuttering was an act that fooled many a wizard and witch to underestimate him. But in truth, he was powerful and skilled enough to be considered one of his Master's top enforcers. To think that the Potter boy could've killed him…just what has Nox taught the boy? And how much has she been holding back from the public eye?

"I am your ever loyal servant my Lord. Forgive me for not seeking you out my Lord…but I have continued the fight to ensure that the purebloods stand at the top."

"I know…you have Luciusss." Voldemort smiled, a horrendous sight on such a disgusting little thing. "You have…done well for our cause…and for yourself in my absence."

"Everything I have done has been in service to you and your ideals my Lord." Lucius groveled. "I assure you…unlike many I have never strayed from the path. Ask of me what you will, and I will see to it that it is done."

The homunculus stared at him before hissing loudly. The sound of something heavy sliding across the floor drew Lucius's eyes to the side of the room. What he saw made him swallow in fear as the largest snake he'd ever seen uncoiled itself from the dark corner it'd been laying in and slithered its way towards his lord. "Wormtail…itsss time. Milk Nagini…of her venom…and prepare the potion." Wormtail whimpered loudly as he rose from his prone spot on the ground to follow the large snake out of the room. "Asss for you…Luciusss…I have need of your…resources for dealing with…Potter."

"Say the word my Lord," Lucius said, bowing his head. "And I will see to it that the boy is dead." He wasn't quite sure just how he would keep that promise, with his many failed attempts already. But if his Lord commanded it, then he would see to it that it was done. Even if he had to sacrifice most of his wealth and more than one of his men. But such was the price for following a great wizard like Voldemort. And it was a price he would gladly pay.

"Not…yet Luciusss." Voldemort rasped, surprising him. "Plansss are already…in place for young…Potter. In time…I will deal with…him personally. For now…you will gather…my followersss that remain. And recruit…those who could prove…useful to me."

Lucius could've sagged with relief. 'He's not demanding the impossible this time around.' "As you will, my Lord. I shall begin immediately to gather the old guard and the next generation."

"Good." Voldemort hissed approvingly before waving him away. "Now go…ssspeak to no one of…my existence…yet. Prepare my followersss…for my return."

"Yes, my Lord." Lucius bowed once again before rising to his feet and making his way towards the door.

He was just at the door frame before Voldemort stopped him. "Luciusss."

"Yes, my Lord?" He asked, turning back around to face the back of the chair.

"I hope that you…do not think…that I haven't…noticed that my diary…isss gone."

Lucius's heart stopped. "My Lord– I–"

"Ssspare me…your excusesss Luciusss." Voldemort hissed angrily. "I know…my preciousss book…isss destroyed."

Moving back around to the front of the chair, Lucius once again sunk down onto one knee, his eyes focused on the bottom of the chair. "Forgive me, my Lord. I– I had thought to use the gift you gave me to enslave the mind of Ginny Weasley. But…but it must've been intercepted before she could write in it."

Risking a glance up, Lucius immediately recoiled. His Lord's eyes were smoldering. And he had no doubt that had Voldemort been in possession of his wand at that moment he could be on the floor suffering for his failure. "You will…be punished in time Luciusss." Voldemort rasped. "But serve me well…in the coming months…and your penance…shall be reduced."

"Thank you, my Lord." Lucius gasped, bowing even lower. His Lord had never been merciful. And while he knew that a reckoning was coming…if he could do anything to mitigate it he would.

"Now leave me…Luciusss."

"Yes, my Lord." This time Lucius moved quickly, leaving the room and even the house itself before his Lord had a chance to call him back.

Once he was outside in the cold, he stopped and leaned his head back and took a deep breath. _'Lord Voldemort is back. I was a fool to think that a child could've defeated him. And even more foolish to part with an object entrusted to me by him. I've fallen in his eyes. Perhaps even out of his inner circle.'_ The mere thought made him shudder in fear.

Those who were not in Voldemort's inner circle were often the central targets of his wrath. ' _I must do anything and everything in my power to reobtain my position. And once I've earned his trust once again…I will learn how he managed to cheat death…and then kill him.'_


	13. Chapter 13

**Welcome back everyone! On to 2017…man did 2016 fly by…and the end of the year sucked. Carrie Fisher…you will be missed…**

 **Okay, enough with how depressing the end of 2016 was. Let's get on with the New Year with a new chapter. Just two FYI's before you read this chapter. 1) This chapter is mainly filler and POV of as many as I could get. 2) Look up at the rating, keep that in mind for the last section.**

 **And lastly, a big thank you to my two beta readers HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon. Thank you guys so much for your continued help!**

 **Chapter 13**

Sitting in her solarium within Malfoy Manor, Narcissa Malfoy was having a fairly good laugh as she read the front page of the Daily Prophet again. _**Harry Potter Attends First Yule Tide Ball With A Non-Human!**_ She could just imagine the expressions on the faces of the purebloods as they were reading their morning papers. _'And just to think…if I hadn't grown a set a few years ago and reached out to my cousin, I would probably be amongst those idiots who are sputtering in rage right about now.'_

Looking back on it now, that decision was probably the first smart thing she'd done in years. She knew that the pureblood society as they knew it was on its last leg. _'At least here in Britain._ ' The majority of students that entered Hogwarts were half-bloods, although the argument could be made that some were purebloods, but it was a weak argument at best. At least a third were muggleborn, and if her little insight into the Department of Magical Education, thanks to some spicy blackmail she had on one of the clerks, she knew that that number was only going to rise in the next decade or so. _'Which meant that the so-called purebloods only numbered roughly a quarter of student body at Hogwarts.'_ Frowning in thought as she did the mental math; less than half of what it'd been half a century ago and less than a third of what it'd been a full century ago.

 _'Plain and simple, purebloods are dying out. And we have only our own stupidity to thank for that._ ' Narcissa paused and grimaced, _'And Voldemort only made it worse'_

After deciding on her course of action, Narcissa had decided that if she was going to side with the muggles, she might as well start learning what she could. She should've known better than to send that little request off to her dear cousin. His first care package that he sent back from the muggle world was full of…quote-unquote "marital aids and literature". Her pureblood upbringing had prepared her for a lot in life, but opening a box and finding it full of smutty literature and differing sizes of…well let's just say that she'd never been so embarrassed before in her life! She immediately destroyed them all. Well…almost all…there was one or two that she'd kept hidden from Lucius. After all…a girl did have needs.

But after his rather poor taste of a joke, Sirius actually came through for her and sent her a variety of texts detailing muggle lifestyles, science, history and just about anything else he could get his hands on that he thought would be useful to her. Most of what he sent her seemed to be almost complete rubbish for the most part. But then she stumbled across something the muggles called 'genetics'. Which she'd taken an immediate likening to as soon as she understood just what the subject entailed. And after studying muggle genetics nearly three years now, she came to the understanding that by constant in-breeding with one another the purebloods were not helping in keeping their blood pure. The conclusion she drawn was that they were distorting it. Creating more and more squibs and those lucky few that were born with power were far lesser than their parents. Save for the odd case every now and then.

 _'Of course every pureblood idiot will deny this fact. Mostly because it came from a muggle source rather than their own trumped up ideas.'_

Looking down at the article, Narcissa studied the photo that was dominating the front page of the paper. The picture captured the four champions and their dates during their opening dance. But it was obvious by the angle of the photo that Harry and his date, this Ahsoka Tano, were the main focus of the photographer. _'The girl is attractive at least. Not quite veela level, but she does have a certain exoticness to her. Amusing…without even realizing it Harry has done the Potter family proud.'_

The Potters, despite their status as an Ancient and Noble House, had always been out on the fringes of pureblood society. They were the first to marry half-bloods and even muggleborns into their family. And looking through her studies on muggle genetics, their willingness to marry outside of the norm was probably why the Potters had always remained near the top in terms of sheer power. And sanity.

 _'And now the Heir is dating a non-human. Yes…he is defiantly doing his heritage proud. Unlike my Draco.'_

Draco was without a doubt a full-blooded Malfoy. There wasn't a trace of the Black blood within her son. A fact that tore at her heart. The Black family moto of "Always Pure", didn't just correlate to blood. It meant that the Blacks stood on their own. They were not beholden to anyone or anything. A fact she wishes her sister Bellatrix should have remembered before swearing her life to Voldemort. Draco was completely besotted with his father and his ideals. And each time she tried to carefully coach him away, he reacted badly and ran to his father. And she had no delusions about what her son's reaction to this latest bit of news would be. No doubt he was concocting some ill-conceived plan to "get back" at Harry. _'Foolish Draco…how could you have strayed so far from the Black family?'_

"Mistress…Master Lucy is homes and he's heading heres."

"Thank you Dobby," Narcissa sighed, spying the little elf over the top of her paper. "Make yourself scarce, but be ready. I might have a message for you soon enough."

Dobby's head bobbed back and forth quickly. "Yes Mistress!" He cried before snapping his fingers and disappearing from sight.

Just moments after her faithful companion disappeared, the doors to her solarium burst open and her "dear beloved" husband rushed in. "Narcissa." He said cordially before making his way over to her private bookshelf. "I need your book on the Histories of the Ancient and Noble Houses of Germany."

"Third shelf from the bottom, fifth book in from the left." Narcissa answered as she went back to making a show of reading her paper.

Lucius had been acting most…peculiar these last few days. He'd been sending out owls left and right to any and all purebloods he could find. And not just to Britain either if his recent interest in her books mean anything. She vividly recalled that night a few days ago when he'd returned home, more elated and scared than she could remember in over a decade. In fact…the last time he'd been in such a state was when he'd returned home from one of his "gatherings". _'Is it possible that_ he's _returned to our shores? Sirius told me that the Voldemort was still alive. Had he…had he made contact with Lucius already?'_

"Is there something you need my help with?" She asked, hoping to glean an insight into Lucius's thinking.

"No." Lucius shot back quickly, taking the book from her shelf and leafing through it as he started to make his way out of her room.

As he walked by, Narcissa angled her paper just enough so that her husband would catch the front page. "Have you read the paper recently? It appears that the Potter brat has outdone even his father and godfather in disgracing his pureblood name."

That got her husband's attention as he stopped and glanced at the front page. Only for his eyes to widen almost comically as he roughly yanked the paper away from her, his eyes glaring as he read over the front page. "That- Damn it!" Lucius growled as he threw the paper down and started mumbling to himself. "They've already stolen the werewolves…now they mean to take the rest of the beasts!"

"What was that love?" She asked. Obviously she wasn't supposed to hear his rambling, but years of blending into the background and trying to survive had taught her more than a few tricks.

"Nothing." Lucius snapped. "Has Draco written home about this farce yet?"

"No my love." Narcissa replied. "Shall we have him try to arrange something to bef-"

"No!" Lucius yelled cutting her off. "We shall do nothing! And I'll write a letter to Draco myself explaining that he is to do nothing to draw attention from Potter or to hinder him in any way! The last thing I need is for my son to mess this up."

 _'Well…I guess that just about answers my question about whether or not the Dark Lord is back. Lucius has been trying for years to discredit the Harry or to have him killed. And now that Lucius is "presented" with a golden opportunity, he rejects it. The only reason he wouldn't want Draco to fan the flames of debate over Potter's chosen partner is because Lucius doesn't want the news that Harry is dating a non-human to get out. If that were the case then those non-humans that sided with the Dark Lord last time might just be tempted to join with Potter. But why wouldn't he want to see the boy killed?'_

Lucius' voice brought her out of her thoughts, "-wish to help, then compile a list of the Ancient and Noble families from Italy and America…if there even are any in the muggle loving infested country." Lucius snarled.

"As you wish my love."

"Good," Lucius said dismissively as he headed for the doors. "I expect dinner to arrive in my study by six."

Alone once more, Narcissa leaned back in her seat and tapped her fingers against the small table next to her. Grabbing a quill and parchment from the draw of the table, she quickly scribbled a note down for her cousin before rolling it back up. "Dobby."

With a barely audible crack, her house elf appeared just off of her left arm. "Yes Mistress Cissa?"

"Bring this note to my cousin." She said, handing the rolled parchment off to him. "And don't worry about waiting for a response either. Just hand it off and return immediately.

"Yes Mistress!" Dobby nodded vigorously before taking the note and disappearing with a snap of his fingers.

 _'Now dear husband…just where are you hiding your precious Dark Lord?'_

* * *

Sitting at her desk with the latest copy of the Daily Prophet in front of her, Nox couldn't help but laugh slightly as she read the article over. The article, despite being written by Rita Skeeter, was actually fairly straightforward and unbiased. _'Which I guess could be contributed to the fact that despite Skeeter writing it, it was my words that she used.'_

The end of the article was the only section of the paper where she had no bearing on, despite being the one who suggested it. Nearly a dozen opinions were posted about her son's "date". Half negative and the other half supportive or neutral. But the key to that section was not what was said, but rather who was saying it. All of the negative comments came from the purebloods; many of whom were in government. While the rest that were supportive or neutral were part of Nox's own little circle of influence.

The reasoning for such an opinion piece was simple. She was trying to portray her son as an advocate for non-humans. And it was working. Shaking her head, if she only knew Harry's decision would have this much reaction she might not have denied him outright, but such tests don't come very often. On her desk she'd already received another letter from the goblins expressing interest in deepening their alliance. And sitting next to it was a letter from the Veela Nation in France. But while the goblins were pledging support, the veela were merely testing the waters as it were. _'Give it time, we've only just opened the door. Now we just need to wait for them to walk through it.'_

Setting aside the letters, Nox was reaching down for the next item on her desk when she felt a slight tremor in the Force. A slight crack sounded off of her right side as Kreacher appeared in her office. "Mistress Nox, Master Black told Kreacher to bring you news, so Kreacher has come."

The elf was holding a large scroll in his hand, sealed with a wax symbol of the Black family. "Thank you Kreacher." Nox nodded, taking the scroll and breaking the seal. "Were you told to wait for my response?"

"Yes Mistress." Kreacher nodded before taking a step back. "Good Kreacher waits for kind Mistress's response before returning to Master."

Unfurling the letter, Nox quickly read over what Sirius had sent her. _'Well well…Lucius…you've been a bad little boy haven't you?'_ "Tell Sirius that we'll be having a meeting soon about this information." She said, tossing the letter off to the side before snapping her wand out and setting it ablaze before it could get more than a few feet from her.

"Yes Mistress," Kreacher nodded, bowing low. "Kreacher will deliver kind Mistress's message to Master Black."

With a snap of his fingers the old house elf was gone. Alone once more, Nox closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. _'Narcissa believes that her husband knows where Voldemort is. Unfortunately we can't just simply slap a tracking charm to him. He's far too clever for that. And because of apparation I cannot just simply assign someone to tail him or use my satellites to track his movements. But perhaps we won't have too. If Voldemort is back in the country then there are only a few places he could hide. Perhaps I could send the satellites over those locations and hope for the best.'_

Snapping her wand off to the side, she cast a quick tempus charm. _'Hmm…nearly time. And this is one meeting with the goblins that I certainly do not want to miss.'_

"Winky." Nox called out as she rose from her seat and made her way towards the attached bedroom.

"Yous calls Winky Mistress?" Winky asked, appearing beside Nox with the faintest of cracks.

"Yes Winky," Nox nodded, not looking down at the elf. "Please go and collect Master Yoda. It's time for our meeting with the goblins."

Winky's eyes nearly double in size, a considerable feat considering how big her eyes normally were. "Yes Mistress! Winky goes and collects Master Yoda's right now!"

Entering her room, Nox quickly disrobed and summoned what she'd come to call her "Grandmaster Attire". The same set of armor-slash-robes that she wore when they assaulted the Imperial ship to save Ahsoka. _'Although I doubt that any Grandmaster in history would dare to wear a leather corset or something that left so much skin revealed. Except for Satale Shan. She actually had a fairly decent fashion sense. For a Jedi that is.'_

After dressing, she made sure that both of her wand holster were securely in place before disillusioning the both of them so that they blended into the black leather of her long gloves. ' _A meeting with the goblins with Master Yoda in tow…this is going to be interesting to say the very least.'_

* * *

Setting the newspaper aside, Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers under his chin. When Minerva had first come to him and explained that young Mr. Potter wished to bring an outside guest in for his date, he'd hesitated to grant his approval. But after thinking about it for a night, he'd decided to allow it as the guest would no doubt be from his mother's little circle of influence and could possible grant him a glimpse into what Nox was planning.

But the young woman who'd appeared on young Harry's arm had completely blown him away. He'd been prepared for a pureblood witch, had actually expected it given his mother. And he feared that said witch would undoubtedly be from a dark family. But instead…instead he arrived with a half-human. Not even a half-human. A full blown magical creature akin to the veela.

After finally realizing just who, or rather what the young girl was, Dumbledore felt confused. Then elated. _'The boy is not completely lost to the darkness.'_ He'd thought _. 'He communes with other magical species besides his own. And is even apparently intimate with her.'_

But as quick as that thought came it went. _'There are just as many dark sentient magical creatures as there are light.'_ He thought sadly, picking up the picture and staring at the young woman again. _'And I have never heard of these togruta before.'_

After the ball, he'd gone straight to his own personal library and began researching every magical creature he could find. After finding no reference to these togruta, he began to question whether or not young Mr. Potter had pulled a prank that outclassed anything his father might've done. _'But that question has been laid to rest_.' He thought, his eyes scanning the article again. _'For a woman name Shaak Ti, another togruta and mentor to young Ahsoka, has stepped forward and reaffirmed Nox's claims that the togruta did exist. That they wished to remain in isolation for now. And that Nox was their representative to the magical world.'_

Pushing the paper away from him, Dumbledore got to his feet and made his way towards his snow covered balcony so that he could look out over the grounds. While Harry's acceptance of sentient creatures outside of humans warmed his heart, the article made him worry. For despite it being Skeeter's words, it was as if Nox who wrote that article. _'She's gathering those who've been slighted by the Ministries of the world to her side.'_ He sighed, finally putting together the puzzle that'd long been before him. _'Ever since she brought Harry back to the wizarding world she'd been reaching out, trying to pull muggleborns and sentient creatures to her side. The werewolves are hers. That is the only explanation as to why their activity has been non-existent for years. Muggleborns flock to either her, Sirius Black, Amelia Bones or Cyrus and Evelyn Greengrass as soon as they graduate hoping to have their help. And now with this article…Nox will draw in even more of those who've been slighted.'_

And to be sure…that was a large number. While the wizarding world was controlled and dominated by the purebloods, it was those who were half-blood, muggleborn or a creature that dominated the populace of the magical world. _'For years I have pushed for Cornelius to rein that woman in.'_ Dumbledore cursed, his thoughts drifting to the one person spearheading most of the legislation to remove protections and rights for those not purebloods. Dolores Umbridge. _'But instead he has allowed her almost unrestricted reign to destroy any goodwill we might have towards magical creatures and muggleborns. And now…now Nox has come in and swept them up.'_

Feeling his frustrations mounting, he turned away from the sight below and started pacing around his office. _'There is no doubt that Nox is this "Pillar" that the prophecy referred too. She all put confirmed having such a title when I first met her. I need to get Harry away from her. The Lords of Light cannot be lost.'_

And he'd been trying. Merlin knows he'd been trying everything he could think of try and drive a wedge between the two of them or to try and endear himself to the boy. But nothing had worked. When Harry's name came out of the goblet Dumbledore had been shocked and infuriated thinking that perhaps this was just another scheme by Nox. But then Harry gave that oath…and the words he said…no. There was no way Harry or his mother had any knowledge of his entry. But still, after the shock wore off he saw another opportunity to place himself into the boy's life. He'd been planning on petitioning the Minister to allow him to take the boy on as an apprentice of sorts for the duration of the tournament. But again Nox had beaten him to the punch by going to the Minister first; ensuring that Harry was emancipated and forcing Dumbledore to allow Harry to leave every weekend to be trained by his mother and her "tutors".

 _'And Merlin only knows what they have taught the boy._ ' Dumbledore sighed tiredly. _'Casting the Stone Prison runic spell at his age should've been impossible. Only a handful in history have been able to accomplish it. I should know seeing as how I'm one of them. And I had nearly four decades of training, I studied the spell for half a year and it took me three days to cast. Harry learned it in a manner of weeks and performed it on the run in less than an hour!'_

Thinking of the tournament made his eyes involuntarily twitch towards the frozen lake beyond the castle walls. The second task was soon upon them…and Dumbledore had yet to make contact with the one who should've been Harry's hostage. _'And it's not likely that I will._ ' He cursed. _'She is kept safeguarded by Nox. The only way I could get to her is through Nox. And if I did that I would have to explain myself, and if I did that then Harry would undoubtedly learn of the true nature of the second task from her.'_

That is one time that Dumbledore had to give a begrudging amount of appreciation to Nox for. As well as frustration. For no matter who he asked to look into or when he looked into it on his own, by all accounts the woman had done right by Harry for his entire life; helping him to excel even. _'But excel into what_?' Dumbledore wondered, ceasing his pacing. _'Harry was meant to be the beacon of hope. The savior of the wizarding world. But with this Pillar guiding his every movement with a loving hand…how will I be able to help Harry see the error of Nox and set him upon the right path?'_

* * *

Watching her Apprentice moving through Form I, Ahsoka tried her best to keep her attention on here and now, but it was a losing battle. Especially with what happened less than a few days ago. She could still taste Harry on her lips…she could still feel his weight pressed against her, his hands rubbing up and down her back. The feel of his hair clenched between her fingers and–

"Master? Are you alright?"

"Yes." Ahsoka nodded immediately, forcing herself out of her daydream…fantasy, and back to the present. "I'm sorry Nat. My mind has just been…elsewhere lately."

"With Harry you mean." Nat responded, a knowing grin on her face. "You look just like Master Mallie when she's thinking about Master Kento! Or Master Vos when he's thinking about Master Ventress!"

Ahsoka felt her face heat involuntarily as her mind quickly wandered back down the path towards the moment atop the astronomy tower an. "I– you know sometimes you remind me of me when I was a Leaner and even a Padawan."

"You mean incredibly skilled Master?" Nat asked, grinning as she struck a pose.

"No," Ahsoka smirked back. "I mean you're an incredible pain in the backside."

"Hey!" Nat cried, stomping her foot.

"I'm just joking Nat," Ahsoka chuckled, wrapping an arm around her apprentice's shoulder and pulling her in close. "I couldn't ask for a better Apprentice than you Nat."

Nat's large black eyes blinked rapidly and Ahsoka could've sworn that the young girl blushed. "I– thank you Master."

Giving the girl's shoulder a tight squeeze, Ahsoka took a step back from her. "You're welcome my Apprentice. Now, I do believe that it is time for you to have you lessons with Master Mallie isn't it?"

At that, Nat's face fell considerably. "History and words…can we train more instead Master?"

Ahsoka felt like laughing, and she couldn't help the chuckles that escaped her. 'Yes…she's so much like me it's scary.' "Yes we can train more," Ahsoka nodded, making Nat's face brighten. "But only after you've completed your lessons with Master Mallie first. Complete you lessons, and I promise to spar with you for the rest of the night once you're done."

Nat's face fell slightly, but when she realized that Ahsoka still intended to train with her tonight, her face brightened considerably. "Yes Master! I'll make it the fastest lessons ever!" She said excitedly before turning and running out of the training room that the two of them had sequestered for the day.

Now that she was alone, Ahsoka let out a long breath as she knelt down in the center of the floor and attempted to meditate. But peace eluded her. For as soon as she closed her eyes she was back atop that tower at Hogwarts. With Harry under her. Her lips attacking every inch of him they could reach. His hands running up and down her-

"Damn it!" She cried out, getting up from her spot and using the Force to throw a weapon stand from one side of the room to the other.

Ahsoka could do little more than stare completely shocked as the weapon stand shattered like glass upon impacting the wall. Staring down at her hand, she flexed her fingers in and out. 'I _– I didn't even mean to do that. Why did I even do that?'_ Her emotions had been…fragile as of late. Just like Master Nox had warned her they would be. _'She told me that it would be rough. That I would probably lash out every now and then. But I– I never expected anything like this!'_

As she lowered her hand, she mind started to wander back to her old Master. _'Sky-guy loved Padme. That much was plain as day to anyone who spent more than two minutes with the two of them while they were together. I think I understand. I– I can't say that I love Harry like Anakin loved Padme. But I do care for him. And it's so conflicting! Part of me says that it's wrong while another part of me is telling me that nothing could be more right! Is this what Anakin felt all the time?'_

Her thoughts turned towards pity as she thought of her former Master. _'Master Nox is guiding me through this…transition. But Sky-guy…he had no one to help him. No one save for the last person in the galaxy that should've been helping him.'_

As quick as her thoughts turn to pity, they stopped and changed gears and turned to rage as she thought of the Sith Emperor. _'He's the one who's at fault! He's the one who took one of the best the galaxy had to offer and turned them into a monster! Everything is his fault!'_

Feeling her anger rapidly rising once more, Ahoska stopped her pacing and took several deep breaths to try and calm herself. When that failed, Ahsoka turned on her heel and marched out of the training room and back to her room. There was only one thing that could settle her mind at the moment. Once she was in the safety of her room she made her way over to her balcony. The fresh cool air felt good, but that wasn't what she was seeking at the moment.

Focusing her mind, Ahsoka brought her power in on herself as she felt her body start to shift. Within a split second Ahsoka was gone. And in her place was a four-foot tall Corellian banshee.

 _'That is still one of the oddest sensations I've ever felt_.' Ahsoka thought as she turned her head to carefully look over her avian body to make sure she wasn't missing anything. The transformation wasn't painful, nor was it necessarily unpleasant. But still…the sudden shifting of one's body into a completely different shape, even if it was over before one could think twice, was still strange.

Stretching her wings, her taloned feet pushed off the floor bringing her over to the floor length mirror in the corner of her room. _'Harry's going to flip when he sees me like this.'_ She thought proudly as she examined herself in the mirror.

Like all Corellian banshees she was quiet tall for an avian species and she had grey-white feathers coating almost all of her body with black stripes stretching from the tips of her wings and across of her back. Her head was covered in brown almost black like feathers. What truly distinguished her from other banshee's however were the white markings stretching across her head. They were exactly the same as the ones that adorned her face when she was in her normal form.

 _'That…and I'm not sure if I actually can screech like a true banshee.'_ She thought, flapping her powerful wings enough so she could move over to the railing on her balcony. _'Although I'm too scared to try here. Maybe if I go somewhere isolated I can try.'_ A banshee's cry could be heard from over a mile away and was known to burst the ear drums of those who were ventured too close.

Looking down, Ahsoka stretched her wings out fully and leaned forward until she fell off of the railing. Her wings caught the wind quickly enough as she leveled out and began making laps around the Temple. _'I love flying a fighter, or any ship for that matter._ ' She thought as she closed her eyes and just enjoyed the feel of the wind against her face and under her wings. _'But this…there is nothing that can compare to this. And I can't wait until Harry sees me like this! He's going to flip!'_

* * *

Catching the sharpened edge of the spear in the palm of his hand, Yoda stared at the shocked warrior before using the Force to throw the young warrior clear across the room and into the far wall. Despite the impact with the wall and the floor, the warrior managed to keep a lose hold on his spear.

"Too young, reckless, impatient, you are." Yoda sighed as the young warrior struggled to regain his footing for a moment before giving up and collapsing back into a heap on the floor.

Sighing, Yoda called his walking stick to him and began to limp back towards where Master Nox and the leader of the goblins, Ragnok, were standing and watching him while all around them the three dozen warriors he'd defeated lay moaning and groaning on the floor.

When he and Master Nox had arrived at the bank that was home to the goblin representatives, Yoda more than slightly curious. He could feel the Force emanating from the building like a beacon. Yet only when he was close enough to touch. Any further away and the feeling was muted to the point of nonexistence. He was also quite intrigued with the goblins themselves. Almost a mix between a Lannik and Yoda's own species. _'Master Piell's sense of humor, they have indeed.'_ He thought as he hobbled out of the arena. _'But his skill with a lightsaber, they have not.'_

These goblins certainly held a great deal of respect for Master Nox, as the moment they entered the building they were immediately greeted by four armed warriors who escorted them past the many others who were waiting in line and towards the back of the building. It was only after they'd been escorted into the backrooms that Yoda lowered the disillusionment charm that'd surrounded him. But surprisingly enough, none of their escorts seemed at all surprised by his sudden appearance.

They were left alone for only a few moments before Ragnok made his appearance. Yoda had met untold numbers of rulers and leaders in his time and he could tell the good from the bad. Ragnok appeared to be one of the good ones who would do well by his people, but would not hesitate to destroy anyone who dared to bring harm to what was his.

"Master Warrior Yoda." Ragnok nodded politely. "That was quite a display. Three dozen of my best, and without even a proper weapon at your disposal. Beyond impressive. Madam Nox did not lie when she said you were a warrior beyond measure."

That had been the line which had started this whole unsavory business in the first place. When Nox introduced him to Ragnok she'd referred to him as such. Many of the warriors in the room took offense to such and accusation and one had even been idiotic enough to step forward and challenge Yoda to single combat to prove Nox's words.

Yoda knew what type of species the goblins were after first hearing from them from Nox. And while he did not always approve of such recklessness, he knew that there were times when a show of force was the only way to get through to someone. The young warrior had only managed a single charge. A sloppy overhead strike that was meant to cleave Yoda in two from head to toe. But it was all in vain as Yoda simply sidestepped the attack and smacked the young warrior on the back of his head with his cane, knocking him out cold.

Of course that was only the start. After watching one of their own fall so quickly and effortlessly, the other goblin warriors in the room, and even those in the nearby vicinity, had abandoned what they were doing in favor of the challenge of facing him. Despite the numbers, Yoda never once felt the need to draw his lightsaber or his wand. He merely used his hands in conjunction with the Force to take down one opponent after another until they were no longer able to stand.

"Well trained, your warriors are Master Ragnok." Yoda responded politely. "But young, inexperienced. Long path ahead of them, they have."

Ragnok nodded thoughtfully before turning towards Nox. "I must say Madam Nox…you certainly find the most unusual allies. First these 'togruta'. And now Master Warrior Yoda. Both magical species that we goblins have no recollection of. If I didn't know better Madam…I would almost think that you were hiding something from me."

"And if I was Master Ragnok, it wouldn't be because I didn't trust the goblins." Nox responded calmly. "Rather, it would be because such facts could change the very foundations of our society."

Ragnok's eyes flickered back and forth between the two of them before nodding and moving away while motioning for the two of them to follow. Yoda hobbled along for a moment, before shaking his head and leaping upwards before perching on Nox's back. "Careful Yoda." Nox growled, her eyes twitching. "I'm not some beast of burden for you to ride."

"Neglected to mention I would be attacked, you did." Yoda shrugged, reaffirming his grip on Nox. "Consider payment for you neglectfulness, this is."

Nox growled lowly in her throat again but didn't say anything further as the trio walked through the halls of Gringotts towards a large set of ornate double doors. Once inside, Ragnok made his way to the other side of the large desk in the center of the room while Yoda hopped down from his perch atop of Nox and settled into one of the two chairs opposite where Ragnok was sitting. "So then Madam Nox," Ragnok began, grabbing three glasses and filling them with a black liquid before pushing two of them towards Nox and Yoda. "Are you here to talk more about this little business venture you teased me about a few months ago? I believe that last we spoke you asked if I had a fear of flying. And now you appear before me after revealing not one, but two previously unknown sentient magical species."

"Is there a question in there?" Nox asked, grabbing her glass and draining it in one go.

Picking up his own glass, Yoda gave the substance a tentative sniff before wrinkling his nose. It wasn't the worst smelling concoction he'd ever come across, but it was by no means pleasant either. Hiding his distaste, Yoda drank only a small amount before setting the glass back onto the desk.

"Speak plainly, we should." Yoda sighed, knowing from experience that Nox and Ragnok would more than likely spend the next hour or two speaking circles around one another. "In the end, only harm between allies do secrets cause."

Both Nox and Ragnok looked at him queerly. "Ah Jedi. Always taking all the fun out of double talking and politics." Nox sighed dramatically before giving him a wink. "But I guess that Yoda speaks the truth in this matter. Ask your questions Ragnok and I will answer them truthfully."

"Very well," Ragnok nodded leaning back in his seat. "I won't ask of your allies' origins just yet, although I believe that I have a fair idea about that. But honestly, it doesn't concern me as long as you and your allies' do not act against the interest of the Goblin Nation. So we'll table that for the moment. What does interest me is the mining project you brought up a few months ago."

Yoda was actually mildly surprised that Ragnok was willing to let such a secret slide for the moment, but if he didn't want to pursue it, then Yoda wasn't about to push the subject along. "Very well then," Nox nodded, setting her empty drink aside before reaching into her robes and pulling out a datapad. "I take it you know how to work one of these?"

"We here at Gringotts are not so ignorant of the non-magical world as those pesky wizards." Ragnok growled, taking the offered datapad. "We just find that most muggle technology is inferior to our magic."

"Good," Nox nodded. "Then you must know that recently my company has been approved for a substantial project of putting a base on the moon. This mining venture however…will take place quite a bit farther out."

Ragnok's eyebrows rose before his eyes went back down to the datapad in his hands. After scrolling through the screen for a minute his eyes widened. "Well…I think quite a bit further out than the moon is understating things Madam Nox. You certainly are ambitious."

"Of course I am." Nox laughed. "It's why I'm still alive after all."

Ragnok lowered the datapad and stared at Nox. "A tale for another time I gather." The goblin murmured before setting the pad down on his desk. "What all will you require for this little venture? And what shall Gringotts receive in return?"

Filling her glass again with the vicious alcohol, Yoda watched intently as Nox idly swirled the liquid around her glass. "I'll be paying for all of the Goblins wages while they work. Their normal wages. Not those inflated wages you quote wizards and witches who are too dumb to notice. Also, Gringotts will take on three-quarters of the cost to create the mining equipment and the shelters. Which will be created by my company and to my specifications to allow for more than just goblins to work in the mines. I will handle the cost of transportation of both the miners and the raw ore to the refinery I'm setting up here on Earth. And in return, I will allow Gringotts to keep a quarter of the refined ore that is mined. As well as one-quarter of all profits earned off of the mine."

Leaning back, Ragnok laced his fingers together. "One-half of the costs. And one-half of the profits and spoils."

"No." Nox countered back. "I will lower it to two-thirds cost. But the one-quarter profits and spoils will remain. I have need of that ore. And besides, you and I both know that without having to pay for your workers' wages, you'll be in the black on your investment within a year. Two at most."

Remaining completely still, Yoda watched as Nox and Ragnok stared one another down in silence. "Very well." Ragnok nodded, holding out his hand. "We have an accord Madam Nox. Gringotts will supply the miners and cover three-quarters of the cost. In return you will pay our workers' wages and we will receive one-quarter of all spoils and profits."

"Agreed." Nox nodded, shaking Ragnok's hand before rising to her feet. "Always a pleasure doing business with you Ragnok."

"You as well Nox." Ragnok nodded as he turned towards Yoda. "And Master Warrior Yoda. Please feel free to come back at any time. My warriors are often in need of a good beating to teach them humility."

"A pleasure, it was Master Ragnok." Yoda replied diplomatically before turning and following Nox out of the office.

Once they were clear of the room, Yoda pulled his wand out of his cane and cast a bubble around the two of them so they could speak privately. "Understand you reason for bringing me today, I do not."

"Because I needed the goblins to see that I have allies outside of the werewolves." Nox answered back without missing a beat. "Right now the werewolves were my only allies that the goblins knew about. And between the two the goblins are the stronger ally. Eventually they would've taken hold of the Order and bent it to their will. But now that they see that I have allies, powerful allies, they know that they can't just pull one over me like they do with the wizards. Because now, thanks to you, they see that I have powerful enough allies that their help is no longer required. Helpful yes. But required no. Which is a very valuable negotiation tool."

Yoda stared up at Nox appraisingly. 'If with the Jedi Order Nox was, doubtful such a tragedy would've befallen upon us.' "Understand Sith politics, I shall never."

"Oh, I wasn't practicing Sith politics." Nox laughed. "That was just regular politics. Trust me…had I been practicing 'Sith politics', as you phrased it, most of the goblins in this bank would be dead and those still alive would be indentured to me."

* * *

Standing in her overlook, former Jedi Master and now Guardian Master Shaak Ti watched as the first batch of new recruits were being drilled by Commander Gregor. Beside her stood the newly appointed General Rex, a position he'd more than earned in the eyes of every Jedi. "This first batch sent to us by Master Lupin are proving most promising General." Rex reported as they watched Gregor explain to the recruits the drills that they would be running that day.

Rex was quite right in his assessment. Despite having only arrived a week ago at the training facility, the recruits were performing quite remarkably. Nowhere near the level of the clones that she oversaw during her tenure at Kamino, but definitely a cut above the average. 'It might have something to do with the fact that every single recruit we've been sent is a werewolf. Because of that they are stronger, faster and have better senses than the average human.' She thought. "We will see General," Shaak Ti said out loud. "And I'm no longer a general."

"Ah, forgive me ma'am," Rex coughed awkwardly. "But you'll always be a general in my eye. And please ma'am…its Rex. I'm still not used to this whole 'General' thing."

"As you wish, Rex." Shaak Ti nodded before turning back down towards the training area.

Gregor had the men and woman all lined up and was sending them into the target structure six at a time. The goal was simple. To get through the maze and out the other side. However as they made their way through they would be hampered by built in mounted turrets that were concealed within the walls. And there were also several holographic displays that would activate as they progress showing either a non-combatant or an enemy combatant. Should they lose a single squad member the trial was a fail. If they failed to kill all enemy combatants, they failed. If they harmed a single non-combatant then they failed. The test wasn't quite the "Citadel" level of difficulty, but it wasn't far behind. And plus, they would be running a variation of the Citadel trial soon enough.

"Has there been any news from Commander Wolffe?" She asked as the first team of six made their way into the maze before quickly disabling the first hidden turret and taking down their first enemy combatant.

"Yes ma'am." Rex replied immediately as he pulled a small tablet computer out from behind his back. "The brains over at the other R&D facility have taken his designs and are currently working on modifying them to match what we have available to us at the moment. Best estimate is that within two months we should have a working variant of the LAATs. However the tanks are going to take a while. We've given designs for a TX-130 Saber-class, the HAV-A6 Juggernaut and an AT-TE. But with the priority that was set upon us by Grandmater Nox for the creation of the LAATs, our best guess is that we'll have a working prototype of the AT-TE in about six months to a year. The Saber and the Juggernaut however will take well over a year to get a working prototype into service."

Nodding, Shaak Ti lips tightened as one of the squad members was hit by strafing fire from one of the turrets, effectively ending their run. "They made it halfway through," Rex observed as he continued to scroll through the screen before him while taking notes. "Not bad for a first run."

"Not bad at all." Shaak Ti agreed, watching as the next batch lined up.

Crossing her arms as she watched, her fingers subconsciously sought out the small leather bracer that was underneath her left forearm. Even though her wand was in its sheath, she could still feel her connection to it. Even though she'd only had it for a few weeks she couldn't imagine living her life without it now. It was just like Master Yoda said. It was like a part of herself she didn't even know was missing was returned to her the moment her fingers curled around the smooth wood.

But at the same time, using her wand almost felt like…she was cheating somehow. It was so much easier to utilize the Force while she held her wand. She could slip into a meditative trance as easily as sliding into a deep sleep. And after only a few short weeks studying in the library at the new Temple, she'd learned more about the Force than she had in all of her time in the Jedi Order.

 _'If only the rest of the Order could've joined us here as well_.' She thought sadly, her mind drifting to the Jedi they'd lost during the Purge and those who were still out in the galaxy hiding from the Sith Empire. _'We will find you, brothers and sisters. I swear it.'_ She silently swore as the second group made it just slightly farther than the first before accidently shooting a non-combatant hologram. _'And one day…we will bring justice to the Sith.'_

* * *

Blocking an overhead strike, Aayla spun in a tight circle while slashing her wand across her body. A sting made of fire burst forth from the tip of her wand, snaking through the air before wrapping around her opponent and tossing her off to the side like a rag doll. Rolling quickly, her opponent slashed her wand viciously across her body sending a wave of energy at her. Aayla quickly created a shield which absorbed the immature spell before sending her own cutting curse at the downed woman and then apparating behind her.

Her opponent just barely managed to roll out of the way of her attack, but unfortunately was not prepared for Aayla's sudden appearance behind her. Which made it easy for Aayla to hit her opponent with a disarming charm, sending both lightsaber and wand up into the air which she promptly captured with the Force. Even though her opponent was disarmed, that didn't mean she was giving up by any means.

Springing up to her feet, her opponent coiled her legs under herself before launching herself into the air while throwing a vicious kick aimed at Aayla's head almost faster than the eye could follow. A year ago the attack might've worked. Leaning her head back out of range, Aayla responded with a Force Push to put some space between the two of them before following up almost immediately with a full-body bind which hit her opponent right in her chest bringing an end to their spar.

"Nicely done kiddo." Her former Master clapped lightly as he stepped forward from where he was watching. "You too luv."

"Shut up." Asajj growled between clenched teeth as she fought against the invisible binds holding her in place. "Release me. Now."

Hitting Asajj with the countercurse, Aayla held out her hand to the one time Sith Apprentice. "A good spar, Master Ventress."

Asajj growled before slapping her hand away and rising to her feet under her own power. "Don't call me that." Asajj scoffed. "I still haven't decided whether or not to join this little club of yours or not."

Behind Asajj, Quinlan shook his head telling her not to press the issue. Asajj, while undeniably skilled, was still unwilling to commit fully to the Guardian Order. 'Although I guess that I can understand that.' Aayla thought as she handed Asajj her wand and lightsaber back. 'After suffering betrayals from Dooku, Sidious, her own bounty hunters and countless others. I too would be wary about pledging my allegiance to anyone other than myself.'

"Still, it's good that we're getting these sparring sessions in now." Quinlan shrugged, pulling out his own wand and making a show of examining it. "Once Asajj and I leave, I don't know how much time we're going to have to actually practice with these things."

Being reminded that soon she would once again be forced to let go of her former Master it brought a slight pain to her chest. "Are you still set on leaving?" She asked the two of them, somewhat hopeful that they'd had a change of heart. Quinlan was her former Master, and more than that a man she trusted implicitly. And Asajj…while there were still more than a few rough edges to the former Sith Acolyte, Aayla still respected her.

To her chagrin however, Quinlan simply nodded. "Yes we are. If there's one good thing I can say about Nox, besides her looks of course, she knows her people. Even though we've only been here for a few months, Asajj and I are already ready to head out again. And besides," Quinlan murmured, staring off to the side and not meeting her eyes. "I can…feel like something is pulling at me out there."

At that, Aayla stared at her Master suddenly confused. It was rare, incredibly rare, for her Quinlan to sound so…pensive. Unsure. "Are you alright Master?" Aayla blurted out before she could catch herself.

"Yeah." Quinlan nodded, shaking his head back and forth before adopting his trademark grin once again. "Why wouldn't I be? I'm learning incredible aspects of the Force I've never dreamed of. And I've got the most gorgeous Dathomiri who shares my bed every night that does this amazing thing with her ton-"

"And if you wish to continue that, you will keep that little bit of information to yourself." Asajj growled while igniting her yellow lightsaber and pointing it towards Quinlan's lower region. "Unless of course you wish to lose that part of your anatomy permanently."

"What is it with you women?" Quinlan cried as he jumped back, putting several yards between himself and Asajj. "Ever since we came to this world you women are always threatening my…well…bits. These Earth witches have been a bad influence on you all." Quinlan sighed dramatically.

Aayla couldn't help herself as she burst out laughing. "Just…make sure to take care of yourself Master."

"Don't worry kiddo," Quinlan smirked, walking back up to her and lightly punching her on the shoulder. "After all, we're taking Bee-Bee with us. What more protection do we need?"

* * *

Setting a book at the base of the shelf, Mallie Marek marveled as the book rose up of its own accord and slid itself back into its assigned slot on the shelf. _'I've been on this world for nearly half a year now, and I'm still having trouble adjusting to just how ingenious these people have mastered the manipulation of the Force, it's truly is amazing_.' She thought as she moved down the row of books, holding up the odd book or two so that they could return to their places. _'Some of it seems so…disrespectful of the Force. But…Force knows it is handy at times. I know that Master Nu would've loved it here…for the books and the holocrons. I think this place could even rival the Jedi archives at times with all the books Sirius keeps sending our way.'_

Thinking of the aged Jedi Master made Mallie falter. Master Nu, while not taking her on formally as her Padawan, had definitely been a mentor to Mallie while she was still a youngling. She'd kindled her thirst for knowledge and history. A thirst that had never died even after she left the Jedi Order in order to follow her heart.

 _'And now here I am_.' She thought, running her hand down the leather spine of a book. _'Surrounded by more books and holocrons than I'd ever thought to see in my entire lifetime. Even if I'm not allowed to see some of them.'_

With that thought her eyes drifted towards the back of the library where the holocron vault laid. While there were some holocrons, innocent ones, that were available on the shelves of the library most had been stored in the vault. As well as some of the more nefarious books that were donated to them by Sirius.

She'd spent more than a few hours in that vault, cataloging over every holocron that she could. Sith and Jedi alike. Perhaps the only one to spend more time in that vault than her was Master Ti. But despite her position as the Librarian of the Guardian Order, a title made official by the newly appointed Grandmaster Nox, she did not have access to the fourth level of the vault. The only two who did were Grandmasters Nox and Yoda. And part of her was glad that she didn't. Master Yoda only entered the fourth tier once. He was in there for maybe half a day, but when he emerged he looked more aged and tired than she'd ever seen him. _'Whatever is in that last tier of the vault…I want nothing to do with it._ '

Feeling a familiar presence enter the library, Mallie let a small smile grace her lips as she felt her husband stealthily made his way through the bookshelves. Feigning ignorance, Mallie kept putting books away as her husband came closer and closer. When she felt that he was just behind her, she pulled her wand out of her sleeve and sent out a stinging hex. Which, judging by the sudden high-pitched squeak coming from behind her, found its mark.

"Sithspit Mallie! What was that for?"

"For trying to sneak up on me." She responded calmly, turning around to face her husband while he rubbed furiously at his thigh. _'Hmm…two inches off the mark. I need to improve my aim a bit_.' "You and Sirius should both know better than to do that to Amelia and I."

"Yeah yeah…I still curse the day Amelia taught you that spell." Her husband grumbled, still rubbing the stinging out of his leg.

"Perhaps," Mallie smiled, turning back to her work as she placed another book at the base of the shelves and watched as it rose on its own. "But it's the best way to keep rogues like Sirius and yourself in line. Now, is there something you needed of me Kento? I thought you were looking after Galen?"

Ceasing his rubbing, Kento reached out and picked up a book off of her cart and placed it on the shelf. "He's in our room. Kenobi came by earlier with Luke while Aela and Remus are off doing only Force knows what. He said that he'd watch the both of them for the night."

"Really?" Mallie asked, a sudden swell of heat swirling in her chest. "Well then…if we're without Galen for the night…whatever shall we do then my husband?"

A mischievous glint appeared Kento's eyes as he stepped towards her and wrapped his arms about her. "Oh, I think I have an idea on that front."

Mallie had only the briefest of warnings to brace herself before she felt the violent lurching of apparation as the world swirled around the both of them. "Sithspit Kento!" Mallie shouted as she smacked her husband upside the head. "Warn me before you do some crazy shit like that! I'm still not used to apparation and– oh. Whoa."

They were up on one of the corner towers, not the one that Harry and Ahsoka had claimed as their own private spot that everyone knew about. But one of the others. The sun had long set but the dim lights from the Temple allowed the stars and the planet's moon to illuminate the area as well as if it were the middle of the day. But that wasn't what truly caught her eye. A blanket had been laid out on the balcony. Atop it were several lit candles with a bottle of wine and light snacks.

Turning to her husband, she saw that he was trying, and failing, to conceal his grin. "Are you expecting to get lucky tonight, Kento?"

"No," Kento said, shaking his head as he came forward and held her in his arms. "Just hoping."

Smiling, Mallie wrapped her arms around her husband's neck and pulled him down enough so that their lips could meet.

* * *

Walking into the Room of Requirement with Daphne and Susan flanking him on either side, Harry emptied the room of all obstructions save for three chairs situated in a circle. "So…how exactly is this supposed to work?" Susan asked as the door shut behind them, sealing them inside.

"Honestly…I'm not entirely sure." Harry responded with a chuckle as he pulled out the package that his mother had sent him just the other day.

Inside was a large flat stone almost the size of a dinner plate. Dozens of runes had been carved into the stones surface, making a mass of interconnected lines that no one could duplicate. Supposedly, the runic array was supposed to act as a holographic projector and transmitter. Although how exactly it was supposed to do that, he had no idea.

"Just put it on the floor in between the chairs." Daphne shrugged, taking one of the three seats for herself.

Staring at the device one more time, Harry used the Force to float the stone down to the floor in-between the three chairs before taking a seat. Once Susan was seated, the three of them pulled out their wands and channeled a small amount of magic into the runic stone. The effect was immediate as the carvings glowed briefly before letting out a pulse that passed through the three of them. Once the pulse passed them by, a small sphere of light rose from the center of the stone and flattened out just below eye level.

"Oh…now that is just wicked." Susan gaped as the sphere of light transformed into an image of a dozen or so chairs all facing one another in a circular pattern.

What was more surprising though was the fact that all of the seats had someone in them. His mother and Master Yoda were situated next to one another. Around the circle he spotted all of the Guardian Masters that were on Earth with them as well as his godfather, Madam Bones, Aela and Remus. But the one figure that drew his immediate and undivided attention was the small togruta that was sitting next to his mother. Harry had to fight hard against the heat rising in his face as he stared down at Ahsoka, his mind immediately going back to those few moments the two of them shared atop the astronomy tower after the Yule Ball.

"Thank you for that assessment Knight Bones." Nox said, turning her head so that she was looking right at Susan.

The three of them gasped slightly, making most of the dozen or so small holographic figures before them laugh. "Yes we can see you. And hear you." Sirius laughed, turning towards Harry. "Don't worry, you're not the only one. I think Amelia here just about fell over in fright when we activated our own runic stone over here."

"Watch it mutt." Amelia growled, her head turning towards Sirius. "Unless you feel like sleeping on the couch for the foreseeable future."

"If you are all quite finished threatening one another, perhaps we can begin." Nox sighed before turning her head to her left. "Master Shaak Ti. Would you please begin by bringing us up to date on your progress?"

Nodding her head, Master Ti faced the rest of them. "Our first three squads are doing remarkably well. General Rex is highly impressed with them and sends his commendations to Aela and Remus for their keen eyes. By my own estimation, seconded by General Rex and Commander Gregor, all three squads will be battle ready within three months."

"Good." Nox nodded before turning towards Aela and Remus. "What about the armaments?"

"All I can say on that is that Commander Wolffe has been a gift from magic." Remus responded with Aela nodding along. "He may not necessarily have the scientific mindset that some of our researchers have. But he more than makes up for it with his technical prowess. At the moment though we're having a slight bit of a problem well…dumbing down the technology I guess you could say. But besides that construction has begun on the first of the LAATs and we should be ready to field test them in a month or so at best. Four months on the outside. The tanks however are going to take quite a while longer however. But our fighter production is going steady at the moment."

"Impressive Remus." Nox nodded before moving along. "Master Mallie. Is the library settled?"

Leaning back in his chair, Harry bit his lip as Mallie explained how she'd finished her organization of both the holocrons and written texts and how she was preparing to depart in a few days' time to start pursuing book stores for more tomes that they might be missing. Next to speak were Quinlan and Asajj, who had just left the solar system after finding three or four asteroids in the asteroid belt that would be suitable for mining.

As the meeting went on, Harry was more than slightly impressed at how easily all of the adults seemed to be able to build off of one another. Ideas were shared back and forth, debated and then either accepted or rejected. And through it all he, Ahsoka, Daphne and Susan sat there like bumps on a log. The longer the meeting went on, the harder and harder Harry found it to concentrate on what was going on. It wasn't that he was bored. No far from it actually. His attention was just…divided. Throughout the meeting he kept throwing glances towards Ahsoka and every now and then she would do the same. Whenever their eyes met, there was almost an unspoken conversation that passed between them, which distracted the both of them from everything else.

"Sirius. How is your search coming along?"

Forcing his eyes away from Ahsoka, Harry turned towards Sirius. "Well I've completed my list." His godfather shrugged. "You'd actually be surprised just how many of the old families have 'squibbed out', I guess you could say. And quite a few of them have gone into military service which helps us. One name that I found surprised me quite a bit. Mr. Dan Granger, British Special Air Services, move to reserved status in the SAS five years ago just before Hermione entered Hogwarts. Highly decorated and respected."

That surprised Harry more than slightly. _'Hermione always said that her father was in the army. But the SAS? Holy shit…'_

He wasn't alone in his surprise either. Nox's eyebrows rose more than slightly. "Really? Hmm…he neglected to mention that little bit of information when we spoke. I'll have to send him a care package and an offer to become a private contractor as well. Continue Sirius."

Wincing, Sirius shrugged. "Unfortunately that's about all I've got. I've been reaching out to the muggleborns and their parents with offers of friendship, but despite our reputation they seem happy where they're at. And as for the squibs…well I'm actually having a bit of a problem actually tracking them down."

"Is such a thing unusual?" Obi-Wan Kenobi asked leaning forward. "If I remember correctly, squibs are the offspring of at least one Force sensitive individual that are born without the ability to use the Force. Wouldn't their families keep track of them?"

"No." All eyes turned to Daphne, who sat up slightly straighter in her seat. "In the magical society, squibs are just shy of being resented. In the past almost all pureblood families, including my own to my shame, considered squibs a disgrace to their house. If the child was lucky, it would be left to fend for themselves but they would be disowned by the family and forgotten. At worst, they would be killed."

Obi-Wan winced and shook his head. "How uncivilized."

"None of us here agree with that treatment however." Amelia was quick to add. "But unfortunately many families still hold true to the belief that squibs are a stain that must be removed. So tracking them down is never easy."

"Keep trying to get in contact with them though." Nox said frowning. "Now Harry. Have you figured out the second task to the tournament yet?"

"Yes mother." Harry nodded. It'd nearly cost him his hearing, but he figured it out thanks to a tip from Hermione about sound waves relative to the density in the air. "The clue was in Mermish. It looks like something that I value will be taken from me and hidden at the bottom of the lake here at Hogwarts and I'll have an hour to get it back."

"Do you have an inclining about what they would take?" Aayla asked curiously.

"Not what, rather who." Susan answered drawing more than a few shocked and outraged looks. "We looked it up. Apparently in the past tournaments it wasn't outside the norm to have to rescue a hostage from a dangerous situation. This looks like one of those times. And unfortunately…it wasn't unheard of for the hostages to die either."

"Unbelievable." Kento murmured. "Is anyone else besides me starting to wonder just why in the name of the Force they actually brought this tournament back?"

"A question for another time, that is." Yoda spoke for the first time before turning his ancient eyes towards Harry. "A plan, you have?"

"Yes Master Yoda." Harry nodded automatically. "I plan on informing the other champions of our suspicions, if they haven't already figured it out. Then the week before the Task is set to take place I plan on tagging everyone that I'm close to with a tracking charm so that I always know where they're at."

"A sound strategy." Nox nodded. "And while we're discussing the tournament, I've received news from one of my spies. I believe that Voldemort is once again on British soil."

"You know this for a fact?" Amelia asked, leaning forward in her seat.

"No." Nox responded. "But according to our spy, there's been a recent increase in chatter amongst the purebloods that managed to escape incarceration after the last war."

"One of the werewolf clans that live on the continent have also been contacted." Remus added. "This particular clan stayed out of the last war and turned down our offer a few years ago to join us. They prefer solitude and we were willing to leave them be. But according to them, just the other day they received a visitor dressed completely in black that all but demanded their loyalty. It didn't end well for the messenger. But the message was clear as day."

"Unbelievable." Asajj sighed. "If you know the identities of these, 'purebloods' as you call them, why don't you simply kill them?"

"Don't tempt me." Nox smiled. "Trust me, I've contemplated that more than once. But leaving them alive for the moment helps us because then we know who to watch. If we just simply killed them, then someone else, someone we don't know, would take command. This way, we at least know who our enemy is."

"Makes sense." Master Kenobi nodded. "But why has this Dark Lord of yours come back now? If I read correctly, he's been a…wraith? Yes a wraith for over a decade now. Why has he returned now?"

"We don't know." Nox answered, shaking her head. "Last time he resurfaced was three years ago and that was to try and obtain the Sorcerer's Stone so that he could create a new body for himself. Harry foiled that attempt. And if he's resurfaced again it more than likely means he's found another way to regain a body. But that is all guess work. All that we do know for certain is that he's the reason why Harry is entered into the tournament."

"But why?" Shaak Ti asked. "From what you've told us, this Dark Lord has some sort of vendetta against Knight Potter due to a prophecy that was spoken just before he was born. And he has already tried to kill him on several occasions. And while this tournament is certainly dangerous. Entering Knight Potter into the tournament to kill him doesn't sound like how this Dark Lord would operate. Too much is left to chance."

"He doesn't expect this tournament to kill me." Harry responded, drawing everyone's eyes to him. "I've thought about this a lot. Why would he want me to be entered? Like Master Ti said, there are too many variables and no guarantee that I would be killed. And plus, from everything that I've heard from Sirius and everyone else who lived through the war, Voldemort is extremely prideful. He'd want to kill me himself. So no, I don't think that he's using this tournament to kill me. Rather, I think that he's using it to try and figure out my skills. I surprised him last time we met three years ago. More than likely he's trying to figure out just what I can do to better prepare himself for when we meet again."

The Masters all went quiet as they digested what he said. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a brief glance of Ahsoka. Her lips were pressed together and her fingers were curled tightly around the arm rest of her chair. "Unfortunately it's a little too late for you to hide all of your abilities." Nox said, breaking the silence. "Between your confrontation with him three years ago and your little display against the chimera, he probably has a decent feel for what you can do. But to be on the safe side try to limit yourself during the rest of the tournament. And whatever you do, avoid any 'wandless' techniques. That's one little ability we'll want to keep hidden for as long as possible."

"Yes mo– Master." Harry nodded.

His mother gave him a slight smile before turning back towards everyone else. "Is there anything else? No? Good. Vos, Ventress. I expect a report as soon as you arrive on Odessen."

"Of course." Vos nodded.

"Be wary, you must." Master Yoda cut in. "A disturbance in the Force, there is around Odessen. Felt it in deep meditation, Master Nox and I have."

Vos blinked, his eyes moving back and forth between Nox and Yoda. "We'll make sure to keep our eyes open then."

"Good." Nox announced. "Then this meeting is at an end. May the Force be with us all."

* * *

Walking through the destroyed halls of the base, Darth Vader carefully took note of the dead bodies that were littered throughout looking for any that might still be alive. To his satisfaction, he found none. Using the Force to throw a corpse out of his path, Vader walked into the deepest section of the base. On his knees in the center of the room was a human boy of a Padawan's age. His arms were locked behind his back, his clothes torn and bloodied. Yet despite his current predicament, the boy dared to meet Vader's eyes. "Traitor!"

Vader stared down at the boy. He couldn't name the former Padawan, but he did recognize him. He was one of the few Padawans that managed to escape the Purge of the Temple. Looking off to the side, Vader recognized one of the corpses in the room as she used to be one of the non-Force sensitives that worked in the Temple. 'So that is how he got out. The Rebels more than likely took the two of them in, hoping to use the boy as a rallying point. Pathetic. The boy isn't even that powerful. I would've crushed him without hesitation had he dared to come against me.'

Turning away from the kneeling Padawan, Vader looked off into the shadows of the room. "You've done well."

A single figure covered from head to toe in black cloth emerged from the shadows before kneeling at Vader's side. "Thank you, my Master."

Staring down at the figure, Vader smirked behind his mask. 'Yes…hatred has made this one strong.' "You have proven yourself capable. But I have one last trial for you before you've proven worthy to become my apprentice."

"Name it, my Master. And it shall be done." The figure responded without hesitation.

Tilting his head ever so slightly, Vader stared down at the now shaking Padawan. "Make him suffer, but do not kill him."

His assassin didn't even hesitate before lifting their hands. The boy screamed in agony as his bones shattered audibly as his assassin tortured the youth. Taking a step back, Vader watched with interest as his assassin broke the youth before his eyes. His bones were shattered one at a time. Then his skin was burned and cut against the edge of a lightsaber. His eyes were pulled out from his head and his tongue was cut out. After nearly an hour the Padawan was reduced to a whimpering pile of blood and flesh writhing against the floor.

"Enough." He called out, bringing a halt to his assassin's attacks. "End it."

Again, there was no hesitation as his assassin brought they're lightsaber to bare, severing the boys head from his shoulders. "It is done. My Master."

"Yes." Vader breathed. "Kneel before me and show your face."

His assassin hesitated for just a bare moment before reaching up and pulling back on their hood. Underneath was a scared, yet very much alive Barriss Offee. Barriss's hatred of him, of the Empire, of the Jedi, of everything had given her the power to resist and survive both his own questioning and the questioning of the Grand Inquisitor for months. After learning that she was still alive, and after losing his preferred apprentice Ahsoka, Vader faked the former Jedi Healer's death and brought her to a secure location so she could recover. When she'd recovered enough to stand on her own two feet, he began punishing her again and again, bringing her anger and hatred to the surface as she unknowingly delved deeper and deeper into the Dark Side. And now after months of punishment and careful nurturing of her hatred, Barriss's blue eyes were gone. Replaced by the yellow tint of the Sith.

"You have done well on this first trial." Vader mused, pacing back and forth before her. "Your hatred has made you powerful."

"It is thanks to your teachings, my Master." Barriss groveled, lowering her face towards the floor.

"Yes." Vader nodded. "And you have surpassed my expectations. From this day forth, Barriss Offee is dead. You will hence forth be known simply as 'Apprentice'. My apprentice."

"Yes, my Master." Apprentice intoned, lowering her face even close to the ground.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Well here we are with another chapter! Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/alerted to this story so far! Thank you so much!** **The Rise** **is now up to over 2k alerts! That's…simply incredible to me so thank you all so much!  
**

 **I've also just gotten a new computer! (The store couldn't fix my old one even after two months so they just gave me the amount I paid for it in credit and I got a new one). So I will be a lot better about answering all of your wonderful reviews from here on out!**

 **And lastly, a big thank you to my two beta readers HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon. Thank you guys so much for your continued help!**

 **Oh, and there will be another A/N at the end, please read if your so inclined.**

 **Chapter 14**

Coming out of hyperspace, Quinlan Vos stared at the rapidly growing planet directly in front of them. "Well…here we are again." He murmured as he turned around to face first Asajj, who'd been dozing in the seat next to him, and then BB-8. "Hey Bee-Bee. Kick up the scanners will you? Let's see if there's anyone home."

The little spherical astromech extended one of its arms and gave him a salute before rolling towards the back of the cockpit and plugging into one of the terminals. "It's about damn time too." Asajj grumbled from beside him as she rubbed the last remnants of sleep from her eyes. "Despite the modifications our new friends did to this ship…two months is still a long time to spend in it."

"It was still worth it." Quinlan shrugged, flipping through the controls of the ship to prepare for entry into the planet's atmosphere.

Part of their mission had been to search out possible planets that would be eligible to sustain life while they were following the path that Master Nox had set through the Unknown Regions of space. They didn't stray too far off of their set route, but they had managed to pick up a system on their long range scanners that appeared to have a planet that could sustain organic life. The other reason as to why they'd taken their time in getting to Odessen was the warning that Master Yoda had given them about feeling a disturbance in the Force around Odessen.

 _'Although how the old man can feel a disturbance in the Force that far away that accurately completely boggles the mind.'_ Quinlan thought as the ship started to enter the atmosphere. _'But as I've learned…never question Master Yoda. The old man is usually right._ ' But despite countless hours of meditation by both himself and Asajj, neither of them felt anything.

Just as they were leveling out through the clouds however, BB-8 started whistling and beeping loudly. "Sounds like the little guy found something." Asajj commented before pulling up her screen. "Huh…looks like there's some sort of small power-downed craft near the ruins to the old Alliance base. Hmm…looks like it's been here for a while too."

Staring at the now clear landscape beneath them, Quinlan opened himself up to the Force. He could feel something, or rather…someone familiar yet at the same time not. Yet one thing that he could sense was a complete and utter lack of hostility in the presence. 'Who are you?'

"Set landing coordinates for the ruined base." He said, coming out of his trance. "We need to find out who this is. And more importantly, how did they get here."

"Really? You want to ask how? What part of powered down craft did you miss." Asajj said dryly then sighed, seeing the mountain that hid the old Alliance base come into view. "We're about to get our answer. Whether we like it or not."

As their ship touched down, BB-8 detached himself from the terminal and was rolling towards the exit before either Asajj or Quinlan could so much as get out of their seats. "Well," Quinlan chuckled as the little droid whistled. "He's certainly anxious isn't he? Let's go see what's got him so worked up shall we?"

Stepping out of the Wind, Quinlan hesitated only for a brief moment as his eyes fell upon the strange ship that was sitting just in front of the entrance to the abandoned base. _'Hmm…that's a old Republic T-6 shuttle…what in the name of the Force is it doing all the way out here?'_

Ignoring BB-8 for the moment, Quinlan stepped around the spherical droid and made his way over to the shuttle. _'Strange…the loading ramp is down but the inner door is sealed.'_ He thought as he circled around the ship before squatting down next to the end of the loading ramp. _'A single set of tracks…light weight. Humanoid build. Possibly female but…hmmm…a slight hand print on the ground. Let's see if you left any more clues stranger.'_

Using his ability to track other through the touching of inanimate objects was almost second nature to Quinlan. But tracking one using his ability and their tracks left on the ground was much more difficult. As his hand pressed down on the indent, he opened his mind to the Force. In his mind's eye he saw a figure robed in light brown robes leaning over and pressing their hand to the ground. The figure's hooded head rose slightly and look at the ruins before them before standing upright, bringing an immediate end to his vision as their hand left the ground.

"Well?" Asajj asked, kneeling down next to him. "Who are we dealing with?"

"I don't know." He answered, staring towards the base. "The vision wasn't clear enough for me to see their face, but they were wearing a brown robe. A light brown robe. And they were powerful in the Force. Incredibly powerful. I'm talking nearly on par with the old man and Nox."

Asajj blinked dumbly before turning her head slowly towards the cavern entrance. "Who?"

"I have no idea." Quinlan answered honestly as he stood up and brushed the dirt off of his hands. "But…I think they're friendly."

Asajj shook her head. "You think? And what are the odds that they're not?"

"Eh, this day and age I would say it's about a fifty-fifty shot." Quinlan smiled over his shoulder as he made his way towards the entrance. "So come on, what's the worst that could happen? Bee-bee, stay with the ship until we get back. And if we're not back by sunrise send a long range transmission to Nox."

BB-8 gave another salute before turning tail and rolling back into the Wind as Quinlan and Asajj made their way into the darkened cavern. "Now," Quinlan muttered as he pulled out his wand. "Let's see if I remember how to do this again."

Unfortunately despite the fact that they were stuck inside the ship for nearly two months, neither he nor Asajj had gotten in much practice in terms of practical applications with their wands. Sure they were able to do a few charms so they could get used to the feel of channeling the Force through them and into their wands. But practicing complicated spells was not the best idea when one was locked inside a small ship traveling through hyperspace.

It took Quinlan a few tries, but eventually he managed to recreate the spell that Nox and Yoda had used last time they were here to create a small ball of floating light. "Ha! Admit it…I'm good aren't I?"

Asajj merely gave him a queer look before snapping her own wand off to the side duplicating what'd taken him multiple tries on her first attempt. "You were saying luv?"

"Bloody show off," Quinlan grumbled lowly before moving past his lover and into the darkened cave.

The old base looked exactly as he remembered it. Everything was in the same place, nothing had been dug up or moved. In fact, the only indication that someone had even ventured into the base at all the ship parked just outside the entrance. Kneeling down off to one side of what was once a control room, Quinlan made a careful examination of the crisscross of footprints that'd been left in the dust. 'These are all useless. Most, if not all of them, were left by us the last time we were here. And this new figure…their tracks are roughly the same size as a few of those girls from Earth.

"Quinlan, over here."

Standing up, he made his way over to Asajj, who was kneeling down just in front of a small opening the wall. An opening that wasn't there the last time they were here. Nodding to Asajj, the two canceled their spheres of light and drew their lightsabers before slipping silently into the small opening.

Emerging from the slight opening, the two found themselves in a new branch that led off of the main hall. A single set of footprints left in the millennia worth of dust leading off down the path. ' _Is that…is that running water I hear? There must be some sort of underground stream running through this section of the base.'_

Moving slowly to avoid making any sound, the two of them made their way through the pitch black corridor relying only on the Force and the sound of running water to guide them. A few turns down the corridor later, and the two pulled short as they spotted light coming from further down the hall.

Pressing themselves against either wall, the two moved silently towards the large cavernous room at the end of the hall. The sun was shining through a large crack in the ceiling, making the partially moss covered room completely visible. At the opposite end of the room, water was running freely down the rocks and into a small pond in the floor. And just before the pond knelt a single figure that was wearing, what Quinlan now knew for a fact, a Jedi robe.

"I see you two have finally decided to join me." A distinctively feminine voice called out. "Come out from the shadows. You have no reason to fear me."

While Quinlan was wracking his mind trying to place the voice, Asajj went completely stock still.

"No…it can't be." Asajj murmured to herself but Quinlan heard her looked at her with a raised bor.

The figure's hooded head tilted slightly to the side. "Ah…Ventress. I see…interesting. Not quite so full of hatred and bile this time. Has your time amongst the Sith finally shown you the truth of their nature?"

Taking a few steps away from the wall, Asajj stood still in the entrance to the room and stared at the figure as if she were looking at a ghost. "Asajj?" Quinlan questioned as he stepped over to her, his lightsaber still in his hand and ready to be used should the need arise. "Who is this?"

Asajj gave no indication that she even heard him. Her eyes trained solely on the robed kneeling figure in front of them. "You're dead. I killed you. I felt your presence fade away. You– you can't be her!"

Laughing, the figure rose to her feet and pulled back her hood, revealing a youthful face of almost unparalleled beauty surrounded by golden locks of hair. Even though he'd never met her, Quinlan knew who this Jedi was. Just as every Jedi who'd gone through the Jedi Temple in the past few hundred years knew who she was.

"You should know young one…in the Force nothing is impossible." Jedi Master Fay answered with a smile.

* * *

Pacing the length of the training room he'd created in the Room of Requirement for the twentieth time in as many minutes, Harry felt the tenuous control he had on his temper starting to slip even as he repeated the Code of the Guardians over and over in his head. _'Passion, yet peace. Serenity, yet emotion. Chaos, yet order.'_

Yet despite the mantra, his control was slipping and in a fit of rage he lashed out with the Force and completely obliterated one of the weapon racks lining the walls. Reducing both the shelf and the weapons that'd been attached to it to splinters.

Hearing a loud bang reverberate throughout the room, Harry waved his arm towards the entrance, using the Force to unlock the dozens of locks lining the door. Once the door had opened enough, a clearly nervous looking Hannah entered the room.

"Well?" He demanded, before immediately cursing himself as Hannah flinched. "Sorry."

"I'm fine." Hannah responded unconvincingly. "But…it's like you thought. Susan's missing. She was in our room last night when we went to sleep. But this morning…she was just gone."

Unfortunately, Harry wasn't surprised by this news, but that didn't help his anger at all. "Thank you Hannah." He managed to get out evenly before turning his back on the blond haired girl. "Please leave for a while."

Hannah didn't respond, preferring instead of back out of the room silently. As soon as the door shut, Harry let out an inhuman yell as he raised both hands up to shoulder height. Anything that wasn't nailed down in the room floated up off the ground before compacting in one themselves as Harry's hands clenched tightly into fists and falling back to the ground. 'Damn them all to hell! I hate it when I'm right!'

It was the day of the second task, and just as he had predicted almost two months ago several of his friends had disappeared. Both Ginny and Hermione had been with him before he'd gone up to his room the night prior, however when he woke up mere hours ago both of them were gone. And now thanks to Hannah he knew that they weren't the only ones as apparently Susan was missing as well.

 _'That would make the hostages for Viktor, Cedric and myself.'_ He nearly hissed out loud as he made another pass within the training room, his eyes searching for something else to vent his anger out on. _'The old fuck is just lucky he couldn't get his hands on Ahsoka.'_

Just the mere thought of his togruta girlfriend brought a halt to Harry's pacing and a slight grin to his face. Their relationship so far had been quite frankly…fantastic. Despite the fact that neither of them had ever been in a romantic relationship before. For her it was more of the Jedi Order's ridiculous ban on marriage and relationships in general, which only hardened after something called the Ruusan Reformation according to Ahsoka.

And for him, it was because he simply didn't have the time. It also didn't help that the only real female company he had until the age of nine had been his mother.

So together the two had been stumbling through their relationship together. Or rather…stumbling into one another as frequently as possible at least. Their brief little escapade atop the astronomy tower awoke something in the both of them. A hunger neither of them even realized they had.

Ever since then the two were joined at the lips whenever they were alone. Be it in the library, one of the meditation gardens, the landing bay behind a shipping crate. Even once on top of a chandelier. It seemed like no matter where they were whenever they were alone for at least a minute or more either Ahsoka or he would turn towards the other and that would be it.

But despite their best attempts at being secretive about their little…sessions they had still gotten caught. Although in hindsight, making out in cockpit of one of the Blackwings was probably not the best of all ideas. Especially when said Blackwing had already been signed out by Master Secura for training purposes that day.

At least the look on the twi'lek's face when she opened the canopy to find Ahsoka straddling Harry with their lips pressed together was priceless. The eight straight hours of meditation that they'd both been sentenced to thought was not priceless as Harry was positive that Master Secura had found the most jagged rocks possible for both of them to sit on while they meditated. His distracted musing was interrupted by a voice.

"Harry."

Growling low in his throat, Harry looked over his shoulder towards the entrance to the room. Standing just within the door was Daphne, who was pointedly looking directly at Harry and not at all of the damage that he'd caused to the room. "What is it Daphne?"

If Daphne was put off by his tone, she didn't show it as her face remained completely calm. "It's time."

Giving her a stiff nod, Harry made sure that he had his little bag of tricks shrunken and in his pocket before he marched towards the exit. Just as he was passing by Daphne, her hand shot out and grabbed his arm stopping him in his tracks. Cold blue eyes met crystal green as the two stared at one another. "Use it Harry," Daphne said, staring at him right in the eye. "Don't let it use you."

Holding her gaze, Harry nodded once before Daphne let go of him allowing the two of them to walk out of the Room of Requirement. Just outside of the room, the rest of Harry's inner circle minus Hermione, Ginny and Susan were pacing back and forth in the hall waiting for him. Ron and Tracey were standing next to one another as usual.

Astoria was comforting Hannah. And Luna was off by herself staring up at the rafters while moving around in slow circles, which he noticed were actually the steps to Ataru. But as soon as Daphne and he entered the room fully, all of them stopped and turned towards the two of them.

No words were spoken as Harry met each of their eyes before continuing on past them and down the stairs and through the empty halls of Hogwarts. _'Everyone is already down at the lake_.' Harry thought as they reached the ground floor of Hogwarts. And he was right. As they stepped out into the sunlight Harry could just make out a large three story dock jutting out into the lake that'd just been constructed specifically for the second task and several rows of stands lining the shore.

As they drew closer, Harry felt two quick brushes against his mind. 'Mother and Ahsoka…' Sparing only a quick glance up towards the top of the stands where he felt the pulses originate from, Harry left his friends behind and climbed up onto the dock where the rest of the Champions awaited. Near the end of the dock he found Viktor staring resolutely across the lake and Cedric nervously pacing back and forth. But it was Fleur that made his steps falter. The half-veela looked absolutely apocalyptic.

"Fleur." He called out tentatively as he drew even with the irate veela. "Fleur…who did they take?"

Fleur's eyes were positively ablaze as she rounded on him. "My sister…those bastards took my sister!"

 _Flashback_

 _Standing on the balcony in the astronomy tower overlooking all of Hogwarts, Harry waited with his back pressed against one of the pillars for his guests to arrive. There was a sense of peacefulness to Hogwarts at night that was second almost to none. That…and the fact that this tower had suddenly become central in most of his dreams of late definitely made it one of his favorite places in the world._

 _Feeling three presences rapidly approaching, Harry pushed himself off the pillar and turned towards the only door leading out of the balcony. 'It's about time.' He thought as the door opened revealing Fleur, followed by Cedric and Viktor taking up the rear._

 _"Well…we're here Harry." Cedric said as Viktor closed and locked the door behind them. "So…what's with all of the cloak and dagger stuff?"_

 _Instead of answering immediately, Harry turned and stared back out at the landscape. "Have you all figured out the clue for the second task?" Harry asked over his shoulder. "That we have to retrieve something we hold dear from the bottom of the lake?"_

 _Turning back around, Harry found that none of the Champions seemed to be surprised by this. 'They already knew. Go figure.' "And what of it?" Fleur asked, clearly curious. "It doesn't seem too hard. A simple bubblehead charm and a watchful eye on your surroundings and you'll be able to obtain whatever they've taken quickly enough."_

 _"I'm not necessarily concerned with retrieval." Harry said before wincing. "Alright…actually I am. But it's not about what we're retrieving. Rather, who we're retrieving."_

 _Fleur's and Cedric's eyes both widened as realization dawned on them. However Viktor didn't seemed to be surprised at all. "It's not so surprising is it?" Viktor shrugged. "Hostages have been used in past tournaments."_

 _"What?" Fleur gapped, turning around to stare at Viktor._

 _"He's right." Harry confirmed. "Hostages were often used as a motivator during at least one task in almost every tournament. It's actually one of the reasons the Tournament was banned. It wasn't considered uncommon for at least one hostage to die each tournament."_

 _"But- but the Headmasters assured us that there would be precautions throughout the tournament to ensure safety." Cedric said slowly._

 _Harry couldn't help but scoff. "Well, seeing as how I'm standing here as the fourth champion, an underage champion, in a 'Triwizard Tournament', I think that it's safe to assume that their precautions aren't worth hippogriff shit."_

 _Fleur gave off a snort and shook her head. "Point taken Harry. Well…as I'm sure we can all agree that the so-call 'precautions' aren't worth anything…what are we going to do about this?"_

 _"We?" Cedric asked, turning towards Fleur while Viktor merely raised an eyebrow._

 _"Yes, 'we'." Fleur sighed. "That is why you brought all of us up here tonight Harry, no? To work together on this Task?"_

 _"As shrewd as smart as you are beautiful." Harry responded with a wink, which made Fleur chuckle._

 _"You best be careful little boy. Lest your girlfriend think your eyes are straying."_

 _Harry couldn't help but laugh out loud. "She has nothing to worry about." Fleur's eyes narrowed at that, and Harry found himself quickly trying to backtrack. "Um– I mean not that you…well you're definitely worth it and– but I'm a one woman man. And Ahsoka knows this. So that's why she has nothing to worry about."_

 _"Nice save Harry." Cedric laughed while shaking his head. "Now…what is all of this about working together? Not that I'm against it, but we're supposed to be in competition with one another. If we all work together…isn't that cheating?"_

 _"Technically there's nothing in the rules that state that we cannot work together." Harry shrugged. "So it isn't cheating…just skirting around the whole 'competition' aspect of the tournament so to speak."_

 _"But why should we?" Viktor grumbled. "This is a competition against one another."_

 _"Yes it is," Harry nodded. "And I know that you three entered willingly to prove yourselves and I didn't. But…I don't think that any of you are willing to stake the lives of those you care about just for a few coins or some ill-conceived notion of glory. Because I'm not and besides, according to Bagman the first two tasks are almost meaningless._

 _"The only task or trial that actual means anything is the last one. So the question is…are you three willing to work together with me to save the lives of those we care about? Or are you going to let your pride get in the way?"_

 _Fleur, Viktor and Cedric all started casting glances at one another as the three older champions held a wordless conversation amongst themselves. Cedric was the first to give him an affirmative nod, followed shortly by Fleur. Viktor held out, but eventually faltered under the glares he was receiving from Fleur and Cedric. "Alright Harry," Viktor sighed. "Let's hear this idea of yours."_

 _End Flashback_

Moving alongside Fleur, Harry gently placed his hand on her shoulder while at the same time shooting a glare towards the second story of the dock where the Headmasters and other judges were standing. "We'll get her back Fleur, I promise you."

 _ **"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome back to the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament!" Ludo Bagman's voice echoed across the lake. "During the First Task our brave and noble Champions proved their skills by going toe to toe a ferocious beast! Today…their resolve and valor will once again be tested! For somewhere in this vast lake a person that our Champions hold dear lay waiting to be rescued!"**_

A low growl rumbled in the back of Harry's throat as Bagman droned on and on either completely oblivious to the hostilities emanating from Harry and the Champions or simply not caring about it. _'I swear…does that idiot have an "off" switch or am I just going to have to break his jaw. Although I don't think even that will stop him as Madam Pomfrey will have him fixed with a few flicks of her wand.'_

 _ **"Champions! Please head for the edge of the dock!"**_

As one, the four moved towards the end of the dock, stripping off their outer robes and down to their bathing suits as they moved. Harry's arms felt bare as he had forgone both of his usual wand holsters. But seeing as how he wouldn't be needing his lightsaber, or rather he didn't want to be tempted to use it, he'd decided to leave both of them behind and simply carry his wand the old fashion way. In his pocket.

As they drew closer to the edge of the dock, Harry caught a glimpse of Fleur out of the corner of his eye. _'Morgana's tits…how can a one-piece bathing suit look so…sexy…I wonder what Ahsoka would look– No! Mind. Get the fuck out of the gutter! How soon until I can jump in the cold water…for fuck's sake Bagman…just say go already!'_

 _ **"Champions! I wish you all the best of luck! And may you return quickly with those you hold most dear! Champions…at the ready! Set…Go!"**_

As one, the four champions turned on their heels and pointed their wands towards the judges. Or more accurately, the wooden boards that made up the stands that the judges were currently sitting on. Harry wasn't quite sure which was funnier, watching Umbridge fall into the water and flop around or Bagman's fairly high pitched scream as the floorboards were quite literally pulled out from under their feet. Both Dumbledore and Maxime managed to avoid going into the water by moving far faster than one would believe possible with their bodies to a safe section of the dock. Karkaroff wasn't so lucky, but he did manage to avoid just getting wet by just barely managing to grab onto a section of the dock that was still intact before he hit the water.

Forcing himself back to the task at hand, Harry worked in tandem with the other three champions in guiding the deck planks into the water before fusing them together with those that were already there. In less than ten seconds the four of them were stepping down onto their nearly created ten foot by ten foot raft. Once they were all on, Harry knelt down in the center of the raft as Fleur charmed the raft to start moving quickly across the surface of the water.

"Damn it…it's not working." Cedric growled angrily, staring down at his wand as if it'd somehow offended him.

"What isn't working?" Fleur demanded, her wand still pointed towards the back of the raft to keep her charm going.

"Our tracking charms." Viktor answered, his face calm but with a slight tremor in his voice. "We can't find them."

Fleur cursed loudly as their raft started to slow down. "So what are we going to do now tha-"

Ignoring the three behind him, Harry kept his focus on the wand in his hand. After uttering a silent point-me spell, his wand pointed off just slightly to his left. 'But…just to make sure.' Harry thought, closing his eyes and reaching out through the bond he shared with his apprentice. _'Yup…she's there…and if she's there. Then the others are as well.'_ "Head in that direction." Harry said, pointing off in the same direction his wand was pointing. "They're two hundred meters or so in that direction."

Fleur didn't hesitate before adjusting her charm so that their raft was heading in the direction Harry had dictated. "How could you possibly know that?" Cedric asked, more curious than angry. "Our tracking charms have been removed."

"I know." Harry answered. "But my tracking charms haven't been removed."

"How?" Viktor asked.

"Simple." Harry couldn't help the smirk that came across his face. "Whenever you attach a tracking charm to an individual you're attaching it to their clothing right? And if you want to dispel the charm you have to dispel each item of clothing one charm at a time right? I figured that the Headmasters would remove any tracking spells on the girls' clothes. So, I gave each of them a small hair wrap that they hid in their hair and placed a tracking charm on that. Then I covered it up with a disillusionment charm and a notice-me-not charm. I also placed tracking charms on their clothes to throw the Headmasters off as well."

All three stared blankly at him once he'd finished his explanation. "Bloody hell Harry," Cedric half laughed, half sighed. "Are you sure that you're only fourteen?"

"Pretty sure." Harry laughed back before refocusing on his wand, which had taken a nose dive down. "Slow it down Fleur. We're almost right on top of them."

The raft jolted as Fleur reduced the power she was pumping into the charm before coming to a complete stop just as Harry's wand was pointing straight downwards. Once they were stopped, Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the small pouch that he'd shrunk down earlier. "Don't jump in just yet," he called out just as Fleur was cast a bubblehead charm on herself. "I've got something here that will make our lives a lot easier."

Enlarging the bag, he reached his hand in and pulled out four weighted diving belts. "What are these?" Cedric asked as Harry handed out the belts.

"They're modified muggle diving weight belts." He explained as he fastened his belt onto his waist and pointed towards a small dial on one of the front weights. "Two settings. Point it in this direction and the weights gain weight, helping you to sink to the bottom of the water. Turn the dial the other way and they become quite buoyant." Making sure his belt was secured, Harry moved over to the edge of the raft and cast a quick bubblehead charm on himself as well as a warming charm. "See you all at the bottom!"

The moment Harry's body hit the water, it felt as if a thousand knives were stabbing every inch of bare skin available. _'Force help me_.' He nearly cried out as his body started sinking into the black abyss of the lake while he watched the other three drop into the water and begin to sink with him. _'This is bloody well fucking cold! Well on the bright side…I don't have to worry about any unwanted growths imagining how Ahsoka would look in that suit that Fleur is wearing and – oh come on! Really? Sirius told me the best thing for this sort of "problem" was a cold shower. How is jumping into partially ice covered lake not helping matters!?'_

The deeper they went, the darker it became. Soon enough Harry felt his ear drums pop as the pressure of the water started getting to him. Holding his wand before him, Harry created a sphere of light before sending it downwards. What he saw made his eyes widen. There were dozens, maybe even a hundred, of buildings built into the floor bed of the lake. And weaving their way through the individual house were hundreds of merpeople. As he drew closer Harry cast another point-me spell. His wand jerked so hard in his hand that he was turned around in water.

 _'Force…I'm seriously going to kill them all_.' Harry cursed as he found his friends. All three of them were seemingly asleep and hanging suspended in the water just above what would've passed for a town square up on land. But what truly got his temper boiling was the little girl that was suspended right next to Ginny. _'Force…she can't be older than Nat for fuck's sake!'_

 _"Harry…calm yourself my son."_

 _"Sorry mother_ ," Harry thought back as his feet touched the lake bed and began walking towards the fountain. _"But…Fleur's sister…she can't be older than Nat. And she's…she's just hanging here at the bottom of the lake."_

 _"Focus on the here and now Harry_." His mother sent back to him. " _Vengeance can wait until they are all safe."_

Fleur was the first one of them to reach the four hostages. The half-veela went immediately to her young sister, her hands brushing back her sister's blond hair as she inspected her. Ignoring the two of them for now, Harry made his way up to Ginny. She looked…peaceful. As if she were simply asleep and not floating in the bottom of a lake. ' _It's as if she's been put into some sort of stasis…one that eliminates the need for breathing apparently. Hmm…I'm going to need to figure out what spell Dumbledore used. It could be invaluable to injured soldiers.'_

Cedric and Viktor arrived shortly after Harry and Fleur did, the two heading towards Susan and Hermione respectively. Risking a quick glance around, Harry saw that all of the merpeople that he saw swimming through the village on their way down had stopped whatever they'd been doing and were now staring at them. While not as powerful at sensing emotion as Daphne, Harry could still feel the general surprise emanating from all of the merpeople. 'They probably weren't expecting us to get here so fast.' Harry thought as he performed a tempus spell and saw that only five minutes or so had expired since the start of the task. _'Or they probably weren't expecting us to quite literally drop on top of their heads like we did.'_

Crouching down low, Harry examined the chain wrapped around Ginny's ankle which was holding her in place. _'What I wouldn't give for my lightsaber right now.'_

Bringing his wand around, Harry pressed the tip against the metal chain before sending a small blasting curse at the chain at point blank range. The chain snapped like kindling and Harry had to reach out quickly to grab Ginny before she started floating up to the surface without him. Holding Ginny tightly against his body, Harry reached down and turned the dial on his weight belt. Harry felt his feet leave the lake bed and it was all he could do to hold onto Ginny as they raced for the surface of the water. _'Holy bloody hell! Mother could've warned me about not switching it over fully! It's just lucky we weren't deeper or such a quick rise could've killed the both of us!'_

As soon as the two of them broke the surface of the water, Ginny let out a loud gasp and started thrashing wildly in his arms. "Bloody fucking hell! It's fucking cold!" Ginny cried out before looking around and, to Harry's utmost surprise, smacking him upside the back of his head.

"Bloody hell Ginny?" Harry cried, "Why did you do that? I just pulled you out of the bottom of the lake!"

"You didn't cast a warming charm on me before I woke up!" Ginny yelled back. "It's the middle of February! There's ice floating on the water! And you didn't cast a warming charm on me! So that's why!"

"Well sorry for being more concerned about your well-being rather than your comfort." Harry grumbled before blanketing Ginny in a warming charm. "There, is that better your highness?"

"Oh yes…" Ginny groaned, leaning her weight back into him and going limp in the water. "Well? What are you waiting for? You're the rescuer here…so finish rescuing me already."

Shaking his head, Harry wrapped his arm around Ginny's midsection and began swimming towards the raft. "You know…you're probably the bossiest hostage ever. I wouldn't be surprised if Dumbledore put you to sleep just to stop the complaints."

As the two reached the raft, Fleur and her sister broke the surface of the water. The little veela girl started flailing about just as Ginny had while babbling almost incoherently in French at her sister. "Here we Ginny," Harry said, turning his attention to Ginny as he put one hand on the raft. "Up you go."

Nodding, Ginny reached out and grabbed hold of the edge of the raft. Just as Harry started to move his hands to boost her up though, she froze and turned her head towards him. "I swear to Merlin Harry…if you touch my arse I'm telling Ahsoka that you're a pervert and letting her deal with you."

"Shut up." Harry growled as he readjusted his grip so he was nowhere near her backside. "And get up on the raft."

After helping her up, Harry hoisted himself up and flopped over onto the raft just as Fleur and her little sister reached them. Recovering quickly, Harry reached his hand out and helped first Fleur's little sister and then Fleur herself up onto their makeshift boat.

"Well," Harry breathed, casting a drying charm over first Ginny and then himself. "That was easier than I thought it'd be. Now we just have to wait for the other's to come back up."

The words had no sooner left his lips than Cedric and Susan broke the surface of the water followed quickly by Viktor and Hermione. As he watched the four swim towards them, Harry felt a pair of eyes on him. "Fleur!" Fleur's younger sister hissed lowly. " _Tu ne m'as pas prevenue que nous devions le voir aujour'hui! Regarde moi! Je ressemble a un rat detrempe!"_

" _Je parle francias aussi, juste pour que tu saches."_ Harry responded, turning around and grinning at the stunned little girl. _"Et vous etes bein trop mignonne pour ressembler a un rat, Mademoiselle…"_

"Gabrielle." Fleur answered as her young sister seemed unable to do so. "Her name is Gabrielle."

"Gabrielle." Harry nodded, smiling at the young girl who was now staring at him completely speechless.

Unfortunately, the amusement towards the young girl was interrupted with Susan's exasperated voice from the water. "If you're quite done hitting on underage girls Harry, we'd greatly appreciate help getting up. The water is more than a little cold! I think my tits are about to freeze off! And no Cedric…that isn't an invitation for you to warm them…but ask me later and I might take you up on the offer."

"Don't need to know about your private life Susan." Harry grumbled, turning away from the young veela and moving over towards the edge of the raft where Susan and a remarkably red-faced Cedric were floating in the water with Hermione and Viktor next to them.

After helping the four up onto the raft, and applying several warming charms to both Susan and Hermione, they set off towards the shore with Cedric and Viktor this time providing the power in order to move the raft. "So," Harry said slowly. "You guys think that Dolores, Ludo and Karkaroff are dried off yet after their little dip in the lake? And while we're on the topic, anyone want to place a bet that at least two of our esteemed judges are more than a little pissed off with us at the moment?"

Cedric was the first to start chuckling, followed shortly thereafter by Fleur. Viktor didn't laugh, but the corners of his lips did turn upwards. Which probably could've been considered full out laughter from the serious man. Hermione, Ginny, Susan and Gabrielle however merely looked at the four of them. "Okay," Susan said slowly before raising an eyebrow at Harry. "What exactly did you guys do…and is it possible to make a pensieve memory of it?"

* * *

"Completely and utterly disgraceful! They should be disqualified and sentenced to Azkaban for making a mockery of this sacred tournament!"

As Dolores Umbridge's voice started reaching inhuman octaves, Dumbledore was seriously starting to consider conjuring a pair of ear plugs for himself…either that or simply obliviating the woman's memories of what had just transpired. 'And as tempting as such a thought might be…I cannot. All upper Ministry employees are routinely checked if they've been obliviated. And the last thing I need is Cornelius sticking his nose where it does not belong.'

The second task had finished it what was undoubtedly the oddest way imaginable for a tournament. The four champions worked together to build a raft, find the hostages and then brought them back all at the same time. While their actions were impressive, they also left the judges in quite the quandary. Naming, whether or not their actions were in fact liable by the rules of the tournament. And second, how should they be scored. Which was why he, Karkaroff, Maxime, Bagman and Umbridge having this…"pleasant" discussion.

"Azkaban? You crazy toad." Madam Maxime murmured angrily. "Under what charges? We presented them with a task and told them to fulfill it. We never said what they could or could not do."

Umbridge's face was nearly scarlet at this point. Although Dumbledore was sure that it was partly because Madam Maxime, a half-human half-giant, dared to question her as a pureblood. 'I really need to step up my efforts in getting Cornelius to remove this woman from public office. She is causing far more harm than good.'

"They worked together!" Umbridge screeched. "They can't do that!"

"I don't know." Bagman shrugged, his trademark grin still plastered across his face. "I actually thought it was rather sporting and ingenious of them. And as Madam Maxime stated, there is nothing in the official rules that specifically forbids the contestants from working together on any of the set tasks. The only rule is only one can hoist the Cup at the end of the Tournament. And with the way we've designed the Third task, only one will come away the victor no matter the outcome of the first or second task."

Dumbledore felt that Ludo laid out a solid argument with that. And in truth, Dumbledore was actually proud with how the four Champions went about the second task. Despite the fact that they'd tried, and nearly succeed, to drop all of the judges into the lake. The entire purpose of the tournament was to create a sense of unity between the three schools. And that was exactly what'd transpired. The four Champions had set aside their competition with one another to work together in order to save those that they cared deeply about.

Despite Bagman's sound logic though, Umbridge remained unmoved. "That doesn't matter! It's tradition! We have to redo the second task an-"

"Even if we wanted to we cannot." Dumbledore finally chimed in, growing past tired of Dolores's tirade. "I understand and appreciate your concern Madam Umbridge. But the simple fact of the matter is that we do not have the time to create and implement a second task. Professors Hagrid and Sprout have already begun growing the maze for the third task. We can't simply stop that.

"And as Ludo stated, the only task that truly decided the victor is the third task. Besides…is this not what we wanted? We brought this tournament back to create a sense of unity between our schools. And in this task our champions have done exactly that. They came together despite being in competition with one another to save their loved ones. What more could we ask of them?"

"I agree Dumbledore." Madam Maxime nodded. "But question now is how do we score them? Technically they all worked together, but not in equal portions."

"Obviously the Potter brat had little to do with what they did." Karkaroff sneered. "The Cedric and Viktor created most of the raft and Fleur propelled it across the water. Potter did nothing."

"Your eyes are failing you Karkaroff." Maxime scoffed. "Either that or you were too worried about getting wet that you didn't pay attention to what was going on. If it wasn't for young Monsieur Potter, then they wouldn't have found those four nearly as fast."

"What?" Both Umbridge and Karkaroff cried.

"It's simple." Dumbledore sighed. "Somehow young Mr. Potter figured out a way around our disenchanting of the tracking charms that were placed on the girls. Either he had another means of finding them, or he simply applied more than we bothered to look for. But while they were in their raft, Harry used a simple 'point-me' charm, which led them too directly over the merpeople village. And according to the merpeople, it was Harry who supplied those interesting belts to the others."

"So what you're saying Dumbledore is that Harry should receive the highest marks then!" Ludo proclaimed happily.

 _'And why wouldn't he_?' Dumbledore thought as Ludo smiled. _'He has a substantial amount of coin placed on Harry winning this competition. He no doubt wants to give the boy as much of a hand as he is allowed to do so.'_

"I believe that in all fairness, all four should be scored evenly." Madam Maxime commented. "They all had a part in this little escapade of theirs. Each one just as important as the other. And unless we can figure out just who was the mastermind behind this little plot of theirs, which they've already told us that they will not admit too, they all had equal parts."

"Headmistress Maxime speaks rightly." Dumbledore nodded. While he'd been impressed with young Harry so far in this tournament, he didn't want to put the boy in undo harm. And giving him the point lead going into the third task would do just that. Let us give them all the same score…say nine out of ten from each of us. And let the final task decide the winner of the tournament."

Ludo did not look particularly pleased, but his expression was far better than Karkaroff's and Umbridge's. "I– I guess that's fair. Well then, are we all in agreement? Each champion will be awarded forty-five points for the second task?"

Dolores pursed her lips but after a moment she nodded, albeit highly reluctantly. Karkaroff frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, but under the weight of the four judges he eventually relented and nodded. "Then it is decided." Dumbledore nodded, rising from his seat. "We will be giving each of the champions forty-five points. And letting the third task decide who our champion will be."

* * *

Walking down the length of the north landing pad outside of the Temple, Nox couldn't help but marvel at the sight in front of her. Three years. For three long years she'd waited for this…and even though she could see it right in front of her she was still having difficulty believing it to be true. Reaching out, she laid her palm against the cool metal surface of the hull of the ship. The first hyperdrive capable ship to ever be built on Earth.

The ship was fairly long at just over one hundred and fifty meters, making it just slightly longer than an average Republic cruiser according to her Jedi counterparts. After laying out the designs for the ships that she wanted, this ship was only a frigate. She still had the slightly larger cruisers to make. Then the dreadnoughts. And if she got enough material, the super dreadnought. Although if she actually managed to make one of those ships before the Empire found them it would be a miracle.

The main section of the ship was shaped like a half-circle with two wings jutting off near the rear of ship. Each wing contained two smaller propulsion engines for maneuverability while the primary propulsion engine was attached to the main section of the ship. Inside, the ship was divided up into three levels. The lower level contained the cargo hold and engineering. The midlevel of the ship was divided into the crew's quarters, med-bay, dining hall, on ship laboratory and workshop as well as the controls for the ships main guns. The bridge, armory and the captain's and first mate's quarters.

Stepping up beside her, Tonks marveled at the ship. Copying Nox's motion, Tonks reached out and laid a hand against the smooth hull. "It's beautiful."

"Yes it is." Nox agreed, letting her hand drop back down to her side.

To Nox though, it wasn't just aesthetics of the ship that got to her. It was what this ship represented. The true first step to taking on the Galactic Empire and bringing balance back to the Force.

"I must say Madam Nox…when you say that you have something interesting to show me you certainly mean it."

Turning her head slightly, she smirked as Ragnok wobbled up next to her while staring at the ship in awe. Or at least what probably amounted to the goblin equivalent of awe. "I aim to impress, Master Ragnok."

"And you succeed." Ragnok nodded before turning to look down the length of the ship where several dozen goblins were adding several dozen more werewolves and the few Guardians she had load the ship with supplies. "And in more ways than one…I would've thought that your…other friends ended with the togruta and Master Yoda. But that blue one…I don't recognize her species."

Moving down towards the front of the ship, Nox took her time while she examined every inch of the ship. "She's a twi'lek. And she's also perhaps one of the best blades here. So I'd be careful before you get any stupid ideas."

Nodding, Ragnok walked along with her with Tonks trailing a slight distance behind. "How many can fit in this ship?"

"It will require a crew of at least sixty to operate." Nox answered quickly. "Three rotating work cycles. Forty man the ship while twenty sleep. The crew's quarters have been magically expanded to allow for greater comfort and the cargo hold is capable of variable expansion up to the point of twice its original size. But we were careful to limit the enchantments so that they will not interfere with the other enchantments and runic clusters within the ship."

"Smart." Ragnok nodded as Remus and Aela walked up to join the three of them.

"Everything is just about loaded up Nox." Remus said calmly, holding out a datapad for her to look over. "We have enough supplies to last our crew for a month. And we have enough building materials to get the framework for the facility up. The only question is whether or not we'll even be able to get that far on the construction. None of us have ever worked out in space before. This whole zero-gravity thing could throw a huge wrench into our construction efforts."

Taking the pad, Nox flipped through the list of supplies that'd been loaded up onto the ship. "Our chosen asteroid is large enough and dense enough generate some gravity. Not as much as Earth or even its moon, but there is some. And the main goal of this mission is primarily to find the asteroid, set up a beacon and unload the building materials. Any other work we can get done can be considered a bonus."

"The men and women will be glad to hear that." Aela nodded. "It'll probably take us a few days to even find the asteroid and then at least a week of training until the crew is able to work in limited gravity."

"A week at best." Nox agreed before handing the datapad back off to Remus.

"Well…I guess that takes of everything then. There's just one thing that we need to do." Remus said, turning and staring up at the ship. "Giving the new girl a name."

Looking up at the ship, Nox let a smile cross her face. "I've already picked one out. _Wolfsbane_."

Both Aela and Remus made a face at that. "You're going to have explain that one to us." Remus said slowly.

"It's simple." Nox replied, resting her hand against the hull once more. "We've already determine that the werewolf curse is more centralized on Earth. Once you leave Earth you can transform at will at maintain your mind while transformed. Which is what the Wolfsbane potion does. This ship, which will be crewed mostly by werewolves, will be responsible for ferrying your people away from Earth. Hence, it's a giant wolfsbane potion."

Remus, Aela and Tonks just stood there staring at her, while off to the side Ragnok nodded. "It's a good name. Fitting as well." The leader of the British goblins nodded. "But we're going to have to talk Nox. Gringotts owns part of the rights to the mass manufacturing of wolfsbane potion. You're essentially ending the business for us. We're going to need proper compensation like say…one of these for the goblins."

Letting her hand drop, Nox stepped away from the ship. "That will be a discussion for another time Ragnok. And besides that threat is weak. Your sales of Wolfsbane has been next to nonexistent for years now. So don't try and pull that shit on me."

"Ah well," Ragnok shrugged seemingly completely indifferent. "It was worth a shot. But for now I must return to Gringotts to begin preparing the miners that will be going on the next voyage. Is there any training you would suggest our men undergo to prepare for this…zero-gravity that the wolf girl spoke of?"

"That's right." Nox nodded. "And have your miners prepare by mining underwater. It will get them used to the feeling of weightlessness and having to rely on a breathing apparatus."

Tilting his head slightly, Ragnok stared at her for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "As you say Madam Nox. And again, please give my best to Master Yoda. And please remind him that he has an open invitation to visit Gringotts whenever he so chooses to do so."

"I will remind him." Nox nodded. "Have a pleasant day Master Ragnok." Ragnok nodded as he raised his fingers and snapped his fingers before disappearing without sound.

"So, what was that all about with Master Yoda?" Tonks asked. "You told us that he handed a couple dozen goblin warriors their arses on a plate, which I would've loved to have seen by the way. But how did that grant him an open invitation to the goblin nation?"

"Because they're trying to steal him away from me. Remus, Aela. Make sure that everything is loaded and secure by sundown. I want you to be well passed the moon before the end of the week and–" Nox was cut off as the small runic palm mirror she had in one of the many pockets of her robes began to vibrate. Taking the mirror from her pocket, she channeled a small amount of magic into the runes. "Yes?"

The runes on the mirror glowed as a holographic representation of Mallie appeared of the mirror. _**"I apologize for the interruption ma'am. But we've just received word from Quinlan. They're entering Earth's atmosphere right now and there's another ship with them."**_

"Another ship?" Nox questioned. "What other ship?"

 _ **"I don't know ma'am."**_ Mallie answered. _**"Quinlan was being quite aloft about the trailing ship. All he said was that they'd found the source of the disturbance you and Master Yoda felt emanating from Odessan and was bringing it with them."**_

Pursing her lips, Nox looked up at the sky as she reached out with the Force. Even from this distance, she could faintly sense Quinlan and Asajj. As well as one other. One who was almost as powerful as the two of them put together. _'Hmm…who have you brought back with you Vos?'_

"Tell him to land on the southern platform. And he'd better have a good reason for all this secrecy. We can't just be bringing anything and everyone here whenever we find them. Oh, and tell Yoda and Kenobi to get off their asses and meet up with us on the south landing dock. Something tells me those two might be needed for what's coming."

 _ **"Yes ma'am. I'll send the messages. Mallie out."**_ Mallie's holographic representation bowed before winking out of existence.

"What's he bringing back with him?"

"Not what, but rather who is the better question luv." Nox responded before turning towards Aela and Remus. "Finish loading the ship and get ready to depart. You two will be taking command of the ship for this expedition as you probably have the most flight time out of everyone else here save for our former Jedi friends." After getting a nod from the two, Nox turned and gripped Tonks' arm. "And you're coming with me luv."

A quick turn and Nox had apparated the two of them to the south platform on the opposite side of the Temple. "Merlin's fucking balls Nox!" Tonks cried. "I'm used to apparating and all…but still. A bit of warning before side-along apparation is appreciated!"

"I'll keep that in mind for next time." Nox said as Kenobi, followed quickly by Yoda, cracked into existence next to the two of them.

"Master Nox." Kenobi greeted her kindly while Yoda merely nodded. "Are you expecting trouble?"

"With Quinlan…that might almost be a guarantee Kenobi." Nox shrugged, drawing the slightest bit of a grin out of Kenobi. "But no. I don't think he's bringing trouble back with him today. Rather…I just have this feeling that you two need to be here for this."

The two looked at her curiously before turning their eyes to the sky. In the distance, two small ships could be seen cutting through the clouds and heading towards the temple.

"Unless I'm seeing something…I do believe that that is a old Republic T-6 Shuttle." Kenobi mused as they watched the ships descend towards them. "What in blazes is it doing all the way out here?"

Shaking her head, Nox shot an amused glance towards the human. "Probably the same thing you are Kenobi."

"Point taken." Kenobi conceded as the two ships touched down lightly onto the landing pads.

As expected, Quinlan and Asajj quickly emerged from the Howling Wind, but the one who exited from the second ship made even Nox pause. She was, quite frankly, one of the most attractive women Nox had ever come across in her entire life. She looked almost human, save for her slightly elongated and pointed ears.

Her long blond hair waved slightly in the wind, emphasizing an almost ageless face. But it wasn't just the surface of the woman that drew Nox's attention. It was her power. She was incredibly powerful in the light to be sure. But it was tempered by a slight darkness within in a manner that reminded her almost exactly of the Hero of Tython Aedan.

"Master Fay."

Turning her head, she found Yoda staring at the woman with happiness while Kenobi…Kenobi looked like he'd just seen a ghost. "Master Yoda, Master Kenobi. I'm glad that you're both still alive." The newly named Fay said in a soothingly calm voice as she walked forward with Quinlan and Asajj. When Nox met the woman's eyes however Fay stopped in her tracks. "You are the one…the one who sent the warning through the Force a saved dozens if not hundreds of Jedi."

"Yes." Nox answered simply. "I am Ziri Nox, former Darth of the Dark Council of the Sith Empire and now I am the Grandmaster of the newly formed Guardian Order."

Fay's eyebrows scrunched together as she stared at Nox not necessarily in anger, but more as if Nox had suddenly become a puzzle for her to solve. "I was not expecting our savior to be a Sith…even a former Sith."

Nox couldn't help but laugh. "Trust me. I certainly wasn't expecting to be the one to save the Jedi either."

"Master Fay." Kenobi stuttered, stepping forward. "How? I– I felt you die in my arms after Ventress…"

"After I stabbed her through the chest." Asajj finished. "I don't deny my past Kenobi."

Kenobi's face twitched. "Right, but still Master Fay. How are you still alive? Not that I'm not happy to see you, I am. It's just…I felt your essence fade into the Force."

Taking a step forward, Fay reached out and grabbed Kenobi's hand before pressing it to her face. "As you can feel, I am still flesh and blood Master Kenobi. And as for why I'm still alive…the Force wasn't ready for me to pass on yet and so I remained. It is a lot easier to concentrate on healing oneself when everyone is ignoring you because they think you're dead.

"I lowered my heart rate to the point of almost nonexistence and then projected my essence out, making it seem as if it's left my body. After that, I crawled into a cave and entered a deep state of meditation in order to heal the damage done to my body."

Pausing, Fay nodded towards Nox. "The warning this one sent through the Force jolted me out of my trance. But by the time I could get moving again, it was too late. And the Jedi were gone. And I was alone."

Once Fay had finished her tale, Yoda hobbled forward before reaching out with his stick and striking her in the knee. "Alone, you are not." Yoda hummed. "Lost many brethren we have. But lost, we are not. Evolve, change the Jedi must. But alone we shall never be. Allow it, the Force will not. Evident of us standing here, the will of the Force is."

Fay stared down at the diminutive Jedi. "You're right Master Yoda." She sighed before looking up at Nox and tilting her head to the side.

Nox could feel the woman reach through the Force at her, trying to get a read on her for a moment before retreating. "Did you find what you were looking for?" Nox growled. "Because if you try that shit again with me I'll turn you into a rat and make it permanent."

Fay blinked. Apparently the woman wasn't used to being caught snooping. "Forgive me. But…you are not at all what I expected from a Sith. Even a former Sith at that."

"Really?" Nox asked dryly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well sorry to disappoint. I left my portable torturing kit and blood stained cloak back in my room."

"That is not what I meant. And you know it." Fay responded which a chuckled. "There is darkness within you yes. A dominating darkness that encompasses your entire being. But it is controlled in such a manner that I have never seen. It doesn't control you. There's a light within you…love."

"Yes, yes," Nox said dismissively. "I've heard all of this and seeing as how these four are apparently willing to vouch for you, you can stay here. And I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to study me to your heart's content latter. But for now, Winky!"

"Yes Mistress Nox?" Winky asked, appearing by her side out of thin air.

Nox had been hoping to surprise Fay, but much to her disappointment the near-human Jedi merely raised an eyebrow at the sudden appearance of the elf. "Please prepare a room for Master Fay here."

Winky turned to look up at Fay before beaming and running forward to grasp her hand. "Yes Mistress! Winky takes cares of Mistress Fay! Winky bes the bests caretaker ever! What would Mistress Fay like in hers room?"

Fay tilted her head clearly lost as the little house elf began to drag her by the hand across the tarmac and towards the entrance to the tunnel. Once they were out of sight, Nox rounded on Quinlan and Asajj. "Don't ever do this again."

Quinlan and Asajj turned to one another, clearly confused by the sudden hostilities in her voice. "What?"

Spreading her fingers, Nox wrapping both of them up a Force Stasis and holding them a full meter off the ground. Kenobi made to reach for his lightsaber, but was stopped as Yoda's cane shot out and blocked his path.

"Never bring someone here without informing either myself or Yoda again." Nox growled. "Do you two even realize what you could've done? Our whole existence is owed to our ability to stay hidden. Your actions, while honorable, could've led to our doom. Suppose that she'd been compromised by the Sith and was sent as a spy to try and find us out?" That made Quinlan's eyes widen.

Obviously he hadn't thought about that chance. But judging by the glare that Asajj was sending him, she had. Letting go of the Force stasis, she let the two drop to the ground.

"Now get out of my sight." Nox growled, turning her back on the two and purposefully walking away with Tonks trailing after her hurriedly.

"Nox?" Tonks called out hesitantly as the two walked. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Nox growled before stopping in her tracks. "Just amazed. Even after nearly four millennia the stupidity of some Jedi and Sith remain. But…while we're on the topic of being alright…shall you let me know why you're so hot and bothered?"

"What?" Tonks reeled, back peddling away from her. "I– I'm fine."

"Don't lie to me luv." Nox cooed, licking her lips as she stepped towards the younger woman. "I can sense your feelings. You get a little jolt each time you look at Aayla and several others. Your dreams are morphing as well and I've heard more than just my name passing by your lips as you sleep. And just now with Fay…well I don't blame you with her. She is incredibly attractive. Enough so to put even a veela to shame."

Reaching out quickly, Nox pulled Tonks flush against her, her anger at Vos and Ventress quickly being replaced by something else as she fed off the arousal emanating off of her lover as she spoke. "So tell me…what floated into that pretty little head of yours when you saw Fay hmm? Perhaps an image of me and her laying on our backs while you-"

Pressing her hands against Nox, Tonks pushed herself away. Her face completely red and her breathing more than slightly labored. "Right. I'm going to go and take a cold shower…a really cold shower!" She shuddered before disappearing with a slightly louder than normal crack.

Smiling to herself, Nox stood on the platform licking her lips as the memories she'd shared with both Ashara and more recently with Tonks raced through her mind. 'Ashara…I think I found your reincarnated soul in human form.' Normally Nox would've let it end at that…but the memories wouldn't leave her be and she turned on her heel and apparated to her room.

The first thing she noticed when the world stopped spinning was the line of clothes leading from the center of her chambers to the joining bathroom. The second was the sound of water running. And third was the unmistakable sound that was filling the room just under the sound of running water.

Shedding her outer robe, Nox dropped one piece of clothing after another adding to the line heading into the bathroom so that by the time she entered the brightly lit room she was completely bare. Inside she found Tonks standing in the middle of the large shower letting the steaming water run over her as she…took matters into her own hands.

 _'Well now…waste not want not.'_

Stepping silently into the shower, an easy feet with the water running the sounds Tonks was making, Nox waited until she was just behind her lover before making her move. Grabbing Tonks by the shoulders, she pressed through the young woman against the tiled shower wall and pinned her there. "So…this is your 'cold shower' huh?" She smirked.

Tonks gasped at her and struggled slightly against Nox's hold on her. "Ziri…I-"

"Shhh…it's alright lover." Nox cooed before letting her hand slide down Tonks body before sliding under Tonks hand. "You never need to feel ashamed with me."

Tonks' eyes widened and a low groan rumbled in her throat as Nox curled her fingers. "Ziri…"

"So tell me Nymph…which one was it?" Nox asked in a completely normal tone as if they were talking about the weather. "Is it Aayla? Or our new arrival Fay? Or perhaps it's my son and Ahsoka if you're feeling adventurous hmm? Master Kenobi? Remus and Aela…maybe even while their beast blood is clouding their minds? Or maybe it's all of them at once no? Although that could probably get quite tiring…not to mention the sweet soreness you'd feel the next day."

Tonks' head fell back against the tiles as she groaned. "Morgana…Ziri…please…"

"Nope, not yet." Nox smirked, backing off and letting the storm within Tonks dissipate slightly. "Not until you tell me which one."

Tonks groaned again, her head swinging from side to side hard enough for her hair to fly around. "Morgana tits! You! It's you! An– and oh– A– Aayla! You and Aayla! And…and maybe…now…Fay…"

"There," Nox cooed, increasing her pressure and pace. "That wasn't so hard to admit was it? And both of them hmm?"

"You…" Tonks panted, her body shaking as Nox expertly controlled her. "Only…you…"

"Now now…no need for that." Nox continued. "You're mine…and I'm yours. But…that doesn't mean we must limit ourselves does it? As long as you talk," she accented with a hard thrust, "to me about it first. I am rather open minded about such things. I did tell you about the time Ashara and I 'split' a pair of twi'lek dancers didn't I? I bet we could create our own memory of such an event with Aayla and Fay."

Nox smiled as she felt Tonks clench even tighter. "Ah…so that thought does do something doesn't it? I must say…it does quite a bit for me as well. And I so do love a challenge. And conquering two Jedi legends…hmm what a fun challenge no?"

* * *

Standing on the bridge of Wolfsbane just before the main viewport, Aela gazed out the window at the mass of asteroids that made up the asteroid belt floated by just a few hundred meters before them. Straight in front of them, nearly two kilometers into the belt floated the asteroid that they were going to be landing on. It was enormous. And far more menacing up close than it'd looked on a projection. The pilot's voice at the helm interrupted her thoughts as she gazed out the window.

"Ma'am, we have a course plotted and are ready to begin maneuvers."

Without taking her eyes off of the large asteroid, Aela nodded to her helmsman. "Very well. Take us to the edge of the belt at half sub-light."

"Aye aye ma'am."

It'd taken nearly ten days, three days longer than she'd planned, in order to find the large asteroid. But in her mind, the three days had been worth it. During those days she had her helmsmen and helmswomen practice maneuvers through the outer ring of the asteroid belt. And save for one instance where the ship had been dinged by a small asteroid, which luckily resulted in no structural damage thanks to the numerous runic enchantments running between the plating of the hull, her men had done remarkably well. But this time, this time they would be traveling far further into the belt than they had before. Even magic had its limitations. If they were to hit a big enough asteroid, the strain on the runic arrays could cause them to collapse.

She knew that in part, this was a test for her. Nox had had her running more simulations than she could remember ever since they'd returned from the greater galaxy. Nox had been training Aela. And this was her final test. And with no help from any of the experience spacers, the Guardians for example, this was quite literal sink or swim time for her. The only problem was…if she sunk she would be taking nearly a hundred of her brethren down with her. Not to mention the five or so goblins that Ragnok had insisted join her and her crew.

Turning her back on the viewport, she made her way back to her captain's seat. The bridge of the Wolfsbane was unlike anything she'd seen in the few science fiction movies she'd watched.

The bridge was long, just over a third as long as the ship itself. At the very bow of the ship was the helmsman's spot, which had terminals for one pilot and two co-pilots. All the rest of the terminals that control every facet of the ship: mechanical, electrical or even magical, lined either side of the bridge leaving the center of the bridge almost completely devoid of obstruction save for a large half-runic half-muggle table which could create three-dimensional holographic map of the surrounding space, or of the ship itself. And near the back of the command table was what she'd come to call the "captain's spot". Which was nothing more than a single chair that could be moved back and forth and a control panel to control the holographic display.

Standing next to her seat was Remus. Although truthfully the only reason he wasn't sitting in the seat was because he'd turned the position down when Madam Nox had offered it to him. A fact that irked Aela more than slightly. She loved her gentle wolf. She truly did. But sometimes his lack of ambition was more than slightly maddening. So now, instead of commanding the ship, her wolf acted more in a support/magical consultant role.

"Remus," she greeted him before sitting down in her seat. "How are the runes holding up?"

Nodding, Remus held up a datapad and started flipping through it. "Good. Although I have to say I'm more than a little nervous about this whole endeavor. That little hit we took a day ago really opened our eyes to just how quickly unbreakable charms and runic arrays can deplete if put under enough stress. After all, nothing lasts forever. Not even magic. I fear we're going to have to go back to the drawing board with some of our runic designs. We're going to have to go back and refocus on kinetic energy absorption…maybe if we adjust the rune scheme here and add a charm…no that would disrupt the matrix…hmm."

Smiling slightly to herself, Aela tuned Remus out as she refocused on the path before them. Besides, she doubted that anything short of her stripping naked and dancing in front of him would knock Remus out of his thoughts at the moment. Pressing a few commands on her terminal the holographic display, which had been showing a representation of the _Wolfsbane_ , shifted to give her a 3D view of the asteroid field and their desired path. Truthfully, Aela had no idea just how Nox had managed to put together this piece of magic and technology…but it was bloody well brilliant.

"Adjust course," she called out as a small asteroid floated into their path and the computer reconfigured their path. "Three-point-five degree downward burn for twenty seconds then correct course."

 _Wolfsbane_ tilted downwards on her command, barely missing the asteroid roughly the size of a large semi-truck before tilting back upwards and readjusting to follow their original course.

With that obstacle out of the way Aela kept a constant watch for any other smaller asteroids that might bar their path. "Ma'am, we've got a clear run at the target." One of the crewmen from along the side wall said from his spot controlling the ship.

Nodding, Aela expanded the map before her to double check. "Bring us up alongside the asteroid." She ordered. "I want us parallel with the asteroid half a kilometer off its surface until we find a landing zone."

Her crew quickly took to her orders, leveling out the ship so that they were running parallel alongside the asteroid. Adjusting the display, Aela focused in on the asteroid, trusting in her crew to continue scanning for any smaller asteroids that might be coming their way.

"There," Remus called out, pointing towards a large flat spot on the asteroid. "That looks like a good spot to set up camp."

"I agree," she nodded as she took note of the location and calling out for the pilot to change his course. "Now comes the tricky part. Landing this bird on a flying brick floating through space." And unfortunately, there was nothing she could do at the moment. It was entirely in the hands of her pilots.

Watching the asteroid getting steadily larger in the viewport, Aela couldn't help it as her hand clenched tightly over Remus's as her heart began to beat heavily in her chest. On the hologram, a small representation of the ship appeared alongside the asteroid as a line was placed between the two, indicating the rapidly shrinking distance between them.

When there was less than ten meters separating the two, the ship jerked almost violently as the landing thrusters were engaged and the ship came almost to a complete stop before suddenly dropping again and landing hard against the asteroid. "Sorry 'bout that!" A voice yelled from the bow of the ship. "Still need ta work on me landin'."

"If you broke anything then it's coming out of your pay." Aela growled as she righted herself and changed the display back to an overview of the ship. "Damage report."

"The runic array held strong ma'am." One of the crew reported. "No structural damage to the outer hull."

"We might need to take a hammer to da landing struts to straighten em out." Another reported. "But that's 'bout it."

"Good," Aela nodded, walking forward to the pilot seats and staring out the window. It was…surreal. Here they were, on a ship parked on top of an asteroid watching as hundreds of other smaller asteroids passed them by. "Get a team ready to head out." She called out over her shoulder. "I want a full visual damage report as well as a geographical survey of the immediate area on my desk by the end of the day."

"Aye aye ma'am!"

* * *

Walking with his fellow champions, Harry made his way out of Hogwarts and down towards the Quidditch pitch as, for once, the sun shone brightly in the late April weather. For Harry's part, he could hardly believe that the time for the third and final task of the tournament was only two weeks away already. The past two months had completely flown by.

Which was understandable considering that Harry's every day consisted of waking up, eating, going to class, training with Ginny or in a group with the others, studying, meditative sleep and repeat. The only time his schedule changed at all was during the weekend when he was at the Temple. And even then the only thing that changed for him was the fact that he had the chance to slip away with Ahsoka for a little bit of time.

Thinking of the Temple brought his mind back around to the newest member of the Guardians. Master Fay. In many ways, the strange former Jedi reminded Harry of his mother. She was witty and incredibly knowledgeable. But unlike his mother, who usually wore her emotions on her sleeve, Fay was serene. But despite her apparent calmness, Harry could sense the will of steel underneath her calm exterior. She was in a word, fascinating. And not just because she was physically angelic in a way that put even Fleur to shame. Of course, in his mind no one could beat Ahsoka. She was in a league of her own to him.

Speaking of Ahsoka, just thinking of how his togruta girlfriend and Maris acted around the fabled Master was amusing. The two practically worshiped the ground upon which the Master walked. Apparently Master Fay had been a legend amongst the Jedi. She spent hardly any time amongst the actual Jedi, preferring instead to float amongst the stars going and going where she was needed. Another interesting fact about Master Fay was the fact that she had never bother to create or even hold a lightsaber ever since she was raised to the rank of Jedi Knight. Instead, she relied on her vast knowledge of the Force when in a confrontation.

And because of her reliance on the Force, as soon as she got her hands on a wand, a custom made order by Ollivander in which he actually used several of her hairs after commenting on how remarkably similar she was to a veela, she was unstoppable. Any spell that was put forth to her, she could perform flawlessly. She even managed to create a fully corporeal patronus; which took on the form of some avian that Harry didn't recognize, after only three attempts at the spell! Not even Master Yoda had been able to create a fully corporeal patronus so quickly, although it still only took the diminutive Jedi two weeks to master the charm.

Hearing a loud screeching cry, the four champions looked up towards the sky was they walked. "If I'm not mistaken…that is a red kite." Fleur mused as they watched the bird circle around before diving down and disappearing into the trees of the Forbidden Forest. "Truly magnificent."

"Yeah," Harry murmured silently with a grin. "She is."

Of course, it wasn't really a red kite. But rather Susan who'd apparently decided to take a midday flight. That had been another development over the past two months that'd truly surprised Harry. Almost simultaneously Susan, Daphne, Ginny, Hermione and Luna all managed to perfect their animagus transformations. Susan was a red kite. Daphne was a white-tailed eagle. Ginny was a merlin falcon. Hermione, predictably enough, was a raven. And Luna was a snowy white owl, much to Hedwig's chagrin who'd taken great offense when Luna had shown up in the owlery and tried to befriend Harry's familiar.

 _'Of course, those three aren't the only ones who managed to finalize their transformations_.' Harry thought with a grin as he recalled the week after the second task when he'd gone back to the Temple for the weekend only to find Ahsoka sitting and waiting for him in his room. Before he'd even managed to utter a greeting, she'd crossed the space between them, pressed a light kiss to his lips, and then stepped back and disappeared from his sight. Although she didn't disappear, rather she'd shrunk into the form of a large bird that he'd come to learn was a Corellian banshee.

For nearly ten minutes he could do little more than stand there and stare at her, completely dumbfounded. Finally having grown fed up with waiting for him, Ahsoka had flapped her wings and made her way over towards the balcony railing. Once there, she shot a look at him as if asking, "are you coming?" before dropping out of sight.

Harry didn't even remember crossing the distance to the balcony, nor transforming into his phoenix form. All he remembered was the feeling of elation as the two of them flew circles around each other all over the Temple. Unfortunately staying in his memories was not to be

"Harry? You still with us?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded, giving his head a brief shake before focusing back in on Cedric. "Sorry. Head's in the clouds right now." Harry smiled at the private joke.

Cedric gave him a strange look for a moment, but then shrugged and continued walking. "Well best get it back down to Earth here. Unless you don't want to know what the third task is going to entail that is."

Harry already had a good idea about what the third task. You'd have to be completely brain dead or blind not to notice the hedges that Hagrid and Sprout had been tending to ever since the end of the second task. "Five galleons says that it's going to be a maze of some sort." Harry called out, drawing several sharp looks. "Any takers?"

Viktor shook his head, as did Fleur. Cedric pursed his lips, but nodded and held out his hand for Harry to shake. As the four walked through the outer ring of the Quidditch stands, Harry heard Cedric curse as the older champion began digging through his robes. "Lucky guess." Cedric grumbled as he handed over the five galleons to Harry.

 _'Not really_.' Harry thought as he pocketed the galleons. _'Considering I've already flown over the maze in my phoenix form during the night and have already memorized most of the paths through.'_

Near the entrance of the maze stood the five judges, each of whom were standing with their backs to the maze as they watched the four champions come closer. As usual, Ludo was the first to greet them, his ever present grin never fading from his face. "Welcome champions! Take a good look around you…because by this weekend this area will be unrecognizable. Any of you care to take a guess at just what your task shall entail?"

"It's a maze." Viktor grumbled, staring at the hedges which, when inspected closely, were visibly growing.

"Exactly right my boy!" Ludo clapped happily. "A maze. A giant maze which will stretch throughout the entirety of the Quidditch pitch and even slightly beyond. And in the center of the maze will be your object. The Triwizard Trophy! The first to reach the cup will be declared the winner."

"The points you have obtained will be used to determine the order in which you will be allowed to enter the maze." Umbridge continued, her face faltering slightly. "However….seeing as how you all decided to violate the spirit of the tournament in the second task, only the scores from the first task shall be counted. Therefore, Mr. Krum. At forty-five points you have the lead and have the honor of entering the maze first. Mr. Diggory, at forty-four you shall be entering second. Ms. Fleur, with thirty-six points you shall enter third. And Mr. Potter…as you have only managed to acquire thirty-four points during the first task you shall be entering last."

"You will be entering in the order given at five minute intervals." Maxime took over, shooting Umbridge a look. "Within the maze you shall be tested by various enchantments, magical creatures and magical plants. You knowledge and skill shall truly be put to the test within."

"There is also the possibility that you will encounter one another within." Karkaroff added. "To that we have this to say…there can be only one champion. However…the use of lethal spells or the Unforgivable Curses is strictly forbidden. Violation of this rule will result in your immediate expulsion from the maze and subsequent disqualification."

"And lastly," Dumbledore continued. "The maze is ever shifting. Even while you four are traversing it the maze will shift. Not even we five, who designed the maze and the traps within, know the exact layout. Now, should you encounter something that you are unable to pass through, or if you should wish to be withdrawn, you simply need to raise your wand and send up a flare of red sparks and you will be extracted from the maze by one of the watchers. Now…are there any questions you four might have?"

The four champions looked at one another. "How do we know when the competition is over Headmaster?" Cedric asked. "If the task is over once a single person reaches the center, how will the rest of us know?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "An excellent question Mr. Diggory. Each of you will be bringing in with you a small one time use portkey, just like you did in the first task. Should you fall unconscious it will remove you from the maze, which will constitute a forfeit. And once a single person touches the Champion's Trophy, your portkeys will begin to pulse for ten seconds to give you all a warning before removing you from the maze. Any other questions? No? Well then champions…I wish you all the very best of luck."

* * *

Sitting in his high backed chair, the twisted form of what was once the most powerful Dark Lord since the time of Morgana, idly stroked the scales of his beloved familiar as he watched the flames eat away at the logs in the low burning fire before him. The anxiety within him had been building up to the point of almost being uncontrollable for weeks now. Nearly three years of carefully cultivated planning was about to come to fruition. And soon he would be whole once more and able to continue on his noble crusade.

Hearing the door to his sanctuary open, he felt out the presence behind him, recognizing who it was almost immediately. "Come…Luciusss. And tell me…your newsss."

Walking around his chair, Lucius knelt before him, keeping his head lowered so he would not look him in the eye. _'Foolish_.' Voldemort thought. _'As if I needed legilimency to know your mind Lucius. You seek my power. My knowledge. How foolish. What I have and am is not mine to give.'_

Lucius was a useful tool, perhaps not as powerful as some of his more devout followers like his sword Bellatrix. But the monetary and political advantage he brought more than made up for that. But his failures as of late had been testing that. The fool was rapidly losing his usefulness. And already Voldemort was contemplating on just who would replace him. His son perhaps? Not nearly as powerful as his father, but if Potter and the girl Tonks were taken out then young Draco would stand to inherit both the Malfoy family and the Black family name.

"My lord, your request has been fulfilled. All of the necessary components for the ritual have been gathered and prepared." Lucius said clearly. "And we have assurances that Potter will be brought before you at the designated time."

Voldemort smirked while he began petting Nagini. "You have…doubtsss Luciusss."

"Yes my lord." Lucius nodded, keeping his eyes downcast. "Is it truly wise to trust…this person with this task? Should we not have a backup plan in case they fail to deliver Potter to us?"

Smiling, Voldemort leaned his frail frame back against the cushioned chair. "They…will not fail. They…know the cost of failure…Luciusss. Potter will…be brought before usss."

"And…if he isn't my lord?" Lucius pressed, daring to raise his eyes ever so slightly. "What shall we do then?"

This was one reason he kept Lucius around instead of just going straight to his son. Lucius was meticulous and had plots inside of plots and plans on top of plans. "A sssuitable replacement…hasss been chosen." Voldemort growled. "Ssshould Potter fail to appear by the allotted hour…the replacement will be sssent to usss. And the one responsible for failing…to deliver Potter…will know the weight of their…failure."

"As you say, my lord." Lucius groveled. "Is there anything else you require of me, my lord?"

"No." Voldemort said, waving his hand dismissively. "Go and prepare…my followersss for my…return. And sssend in…the rat. It is time…for Nagini to be…milked."

Lucius's throat visibly bobbed as he nodded. "Yes, my lord." He muttered before rising quickly to his feet and all but running out of the room.

Alone once more, Voldemort resumed his petting of Nagini. 'Soon Potter…I will have my revenge on you and your mudblood mother for what you've done to me. And once you are defeated…I will strip your mind of every secret you hold of these…Guardians. And once I learn your secrets…there will be nothing to stop our rise. Just as I deserve."

* * *

 **A/N: Okay…now I know that there are a few things that I'm going to have to explain for this chapter.**

 **For the ship design I've used the design from Mass Effect, basically the frigate is the Normandy SR-2. Course not everything is like the SR-2.**

 **Second, the magical enchantments on the ship. Now like many of you I've also read 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For', and if you haven't then I suggest that you do. The enchantments and spells in this story do not work like they do in that one. The best way that I can describe this is that nothing last forever, including magic. You can pump a ton of power into an unbreakable charm, but continuously put strain on the charm and it will eventually wear the enchantment out. Put too much strain on it at once, and you can break the enchantment as well. Same with runes. Runes have to be powered up, just a battery. Once their charge runs out, they're useless and you're shielding charm or unbreakable charm that are tied into the runes will be gone.**

 **The reason why I'm going this route is because I believe that a fleet of 'Unbreakable' ships would make everything way too OP. And I want to avoid that if I can. But still, saying that each ship will have Shielding Runes, Unbreakable charms, generated shields using SW technology plus their thicker than average hull. So…while the ships won't necessarily be OP, they will be a hell of a lot tougher than anything else out there thanks to magic.**

 **And lastly, the small French section translates into thus: (And thank you to Torvalds42 for the help with the translation as my French is more than a little rusty)**

" **You didn't tell me that I would meeting him today! Look at me! I look like a drowned rat!"**

" **I speak French as well, just so you know." "And you are far too cute to be a drowned rat Mademoiselle**


	15. Chapter 15

**So yeah, just a quick thank you to everyone for reading! Thank you all so much! I started** **In All Things Balance** **a year ago now…and you all have just blown me away with your support. I cannot thank you all enough for everything. I hope that you all enjoy this next chapter and thank you to everyone whose reviewed, alerted or added this story to your favorites. Thank you all so much! And if I didn't respond to your review from the last chapter I apologize!**

 **And as always, a huge thank you to my two beta readers HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon. Thank you guys so much for your continued help!**

 **Chapter 15**

"So it's a maze then?" Nox mused, leaning back in her seat.

With the new information that her son had brought to her regarding the third task of the Triwizard Tournament, Nox had deemed fit to call for another Council meeting.

Everyone who'd attended the last meeting were once again in attendance in the same manner, save for her son who was here in person this time instead of having to queue in remotely.

"A really large maze." Susan Bones added. "Hermione and I decided to take an overhead view of it yesterday to see if we can find a route through. The hedges are all at least five to six meters tall. The paths between the hedges are just barely wide enough to fit two people side by side and they go on for miles. And unfortunately, after an hour of scouting the maze we can confirm what Dumbledore told Harry. The hedges are almost constantly in motion. Opening one path while closing another. Unfortunately Harry, I think you're going to have to do this the hard way as creating a map of the maze will be impossible."

"Is there any way to predict there the maze will be shifting?" Mallie asked curiously.

Shaking her head, Susan's projection leaned back. "No. Hermione and I watched that maze for hours and never once, even after looking it from the pensieve, were able to predict its movements. But even if we were able to predict where and when the maze would shift. Although there is a pattern, but by the time we'd be able to discern it the third task will be well past over."

A loud sigh came from Obi-Wan as the veteran Master leaned back in his seat and rubbed tiredly at his brow. "Forgive me, but I'm still trying to figure out how this all plays into the favor of this Dark Lord." He said. "You say that he has a vendetta against you personally and will want to settle it personally, which I believe to be true as well. But I still cannot see how entering you into this tournament accomplishes that goal. Sure you will be isolated from everyone while in the maze, but then he would have to expose himself as well. Which is something he does not want to do. So how does he plan to confront you then using this last task?"

"Abduction." Harry answered. He'd had more than a little time to think about that very question as his entire year had been monopolized by the tournament. "Each of the champions will be wearing an emergency portkey before the start of the task that will activate upon one of several factors. One, being rendered unconscious. Two, someone grabs the trophy at the end of the maze. Or three, voluntarily withdraw from the maze. Once they are activated they're supposed to bring us back to entrance of the maze."

"But there are two problems with that." Master Ti said, tucking her fingers under her chin. "One, how would they change the portkey? It was my understanding that those destinations are fixed locations that cannot be changed. And two, what about the chance of you not receiving the right portkey? Wouldn't they risk sending one of the other champions besides yourself away?"

"I can name two off the top of my head that willing served Voldemort during the last war." Harry answered. "Karkaroff, who's a judge and Headmaster so he would have access to the portkeys before they're to be distributed. And Snape, a Professor at Hogwarts who for some reason has Dumbledore's complete and utter trust. Both of them have the knowledge, means and reason to insure that I'm to be brought before their Master."

"And to answer your other question lass, ol'Voldy was never really one to worry about collateral damage." Sirius grimaced. "But she brings up a good point. There is a chance that all of the champions, and not just Harry, will get swept up in this grab."

"Then we're going to have to take that into consideration." Nox mused, her mind racing.

"Well if we know how this Dark Lord plans on abducting Harry, then why not just get rid of the portkey once he enters the maze?" Kento asked. "Then all that Harry needs to do is just find the other champions in the maze and take their portkeys."

"Unfortunately I don't think that will be enough." Nox sighed.

"Madam Nox is right," Amelia nodded. "Unfortunately, just about anything could be turned into a portkey, even a stick. And all Harry or someone else would have to do is accidently step on it while they're going through the maze and they would be whisked away. And Voldemort is too smart to leave this to chance. The portkey is a probability for how to abduct Harry, but by no means is it the only way for it to happen."

"Plus there's something else to consider." Harry continued, leaning forward. "According to mother's spies, Lucius Malfoy has been gathering together all of the old Death Eaters who managed to escape prison last time and then some. If Voldemort is anything, he's prideful. He'll want to defeat me with as big an audience as he possibly can. He set a trap for me; one that I honestly can't see a way of escaping without risking my connection to the Force. But instead of being the victim, we can turn this around on him. And instead of the victim, I become the bait."

"Intend to trap this Dark Lord, and his supporters you do?" Master Yoda half questioned half stated.

"Yes." Harry nodded, making sure to meet everyone's eye before he continued, although his eyes did linger on Ahsoka's for a time. "I understand the risks. But if we go this route then we could uproot almost all of Voldemort's supporters that aren't already in prison and capture the slimy snake himself."

"Why not just kill him?" Asajj asked casually. "If this man will be as much trouble as you predict, it would be far better to simply be rid of him now."

"If only we could." Nox shook her head. "Unfortunately, he still has two soul anchors, which we have not destroyed. We know where one is but are unable to get to it. The other however we have no idea where it is or even what it is. The man could've made an anchor out of an old pair boots for all we know. And until we know for certain where this last anchor is, we cannot risk disembodying him again."

"Forgive my well, lack of knowledge on the subject at hand," Quinlan interjected. "But what's to stop him from making more than six?"

"The fucking fool shouldn't have even created one let alone six."

It wasn't so much what'd just been said, nor the sheer vehemence in the voice that said it, that drew everyone's attention. But rather just who said it. In the short time he'd known her, Harry had never seen Master Fay even slightly flustered. But now, now the former Jedi was positively radiating anger. "Such things are an affront to the very nature of the Force! Only a Sith could actually create such a vile affront to the Force."

"Don't lump all Sith together in the same group Fay." Nox interjected not unkindly. "Although I do share your sentiment about this subject. Severing one's soul into pieces is an affront to the Force and having done so he will be forever denied actually becoming one with the Force. But as for why he hasn't created more, it's a simple matter that he can't. I'm actually amazed he made six and still has the amount of power that he does.

"For a point of reference, creating six soul anchors would be akin to cutting off both of your feet, both hands, gouging out one of your eyes and cutting out your tongue. You become a shell of your former self and are never able to return to what you once were. In return however, your soul is bound to this plane of existence. Not a smart trade. Which is why even the Sith abandoned such rituals even during my time."

"Well this is all good and interesting," Sirius cut in, "but perhaps we could get back to the matter at hand? Namely my godson volunteering for what is basically a suicide mission!"

"I'm more than capable of handling a few of Voldemort's flunkies' godfather." Harry shot back.

"But you're not immortal either Harry." Nox cut back, knocking his legs out from under him. "But as much as it pains me to admit this…this is our best chance of not only taking out Voldemort, but taking out most of his supporters as well."

Silence descended upon the council chambers. "Then the question becomes how do we track Harry after he's whisked away from this maze?" Quinlan asked, breaking the silence. "Can we trace him through a portkey with either a spell or a transmitter of some sort?"

"No." Amelia answered immediately before continuing on at a slightly slower pace. "As we've said, Voldemort and his followers are not stupid. Well, at least most of them are not stupid. They'll make sure that any tracking charms on Harry are disabled before we can get a proper read on them. One bloke even placed a tracking charm on his underwear thinking they wouldn't dispel that…well he disappeared and was found a week later hanging from the rafters by his own entrails.

"And as for muggle transmitters, for some reason they really do not like portkeys. We've tried a couple of times and each time we do the transmitter ends up…short circling? Or whatever you call it. Either way, no active transmitter has managed to survive a trip through a portkey."

"What if it wasn't active?" Ahsoka asked, blinking as she found herself the center of attention. "I mean, you've only tried with active transmitter's right? What if Harry had one on him that wasn't activated until he was already through the portkey? Then he, or we, could activate it we could track his location."

The only sound that greeted her suggestion was of Sirius slapping himself upside the head. "Good Merlin…how the bloody hell did we never think of that? If it doesn't survive the trip through while on…then just turn the bloody thing off and wait till you're through to turn it on. Bloody brilliant Ahsoka."

"So, that solves the problem of how to track Harry then," Kento pressed onwards. "But we still have a major problem. How exactly are we supposed to provide support for Harry once he's surrounded and cut off by the enemy? He could be sent anywhere for all we know. And while I'm no master of apparating, even I know that you can't just blindly apparate somewhere you haven't been before."

"No you can't," Nox nodded as her head turned towards Master Ti. "Which is why we won't be. Master Ti. How many LAATs are operational and what's the status of our troopers?"

Master Ti paused, rubbing her chin and thinking for a moment before answering. "We have three LAATs that could be considered 'operational'. However they have yet to undergo proper field testing. As for the troopers, General Rex has declared that while we have three squads that have passed what he would consider basic training, he would be hesitant to put them in the field just yet."

"Unfortunately time is not on our side in this endeavor." Nox sighed, making Harry wince. He knew how much his mother hated rushing things. Not that she couldn't rush things of course. She was just meticulous and preferred to plan for any and all scenarios before dedicating herself and others to a specific task.

"And the _Wolfsbane_ is not due to be back for another two weeks so using it is out of the question. No. we're just going to have to use what we have. Master Ti, I want those LAATs field tested and ready in the next two days. Tell General Rex that he has the squads for three more days before they're to rest. I also want him as well as Commanders Gregor and Wolffe to take temporary command of each squad for this mission."

"I will see that it is done." Master Ti bowed her head in acknowledgement.

"Whoa whoa, hang on one bloody minute." Sirius gaped. "We're not really seriously considering this are we? I mean I know you're good Harry, but for fucks sake you're going to be left alone and surrounded by Merlin only knows how many of the Dark Lord's arse kissers until we can get to you!"

"Then that's a price that I'm willing pay godfather." Harry responded, his voice completely flat and devoid of all emotion. "This gives us the greatest chance of taking down not only the head dark wanker, as you have so colorfully referred to him as in the past. But a number of his followers as well. This is a chance that we cannot let pass us by."

"And what of the collateral?" Obi-Wan asked. "The other champions. What if they get pulled into this as well?"

"Then we do what we can to defend them as well." Nox cut in. "If we were to tip them off…there is a possibility, however slight, that it could get back to Voldemort. We can't take that chance. And that said, they were each chosen for this tournament for a reason. None of them are slouches in terms of magic."

"I can have a few of my Aurors ready to assist in this operation as well." Amelia added in.

"No." Nox quickly shot that idea down. "While I trust you Amelia, I do not trust your Aurors or the Ministry. News of an operation of this scale and intent, even if you waited until the day of to tell your men about it word would get out. Lucius has bought far too much of the Ministry to chance it. But I do agree that we will need the local government to make this all official. So once we're done we will call in you and your men for cleanup."

Amelia didn't look necessarily happy about that, but she nodded her head in agreement nonetheless. "And what of Maris and Nat?" Mallie asked. "While they're both skilled, I don't think they're quite ready for something like this just yet."

"I agree." Nox nodded. "But I have a different task in mind for Maris, and you as well Fay. You will both have a part in this operation, indirectly. But still a part. Are there any other questions? No. Good. Oh and one last thing," Nox said, turning in her seat and looking directly into Harry's eyes.

"Once you are on the other side Harry there is no telling how long you will be alone for. Whether you're with the champions or not…I hereby give you leave to use your abilities to their fullest extent. Show no mercy. And expect none."

Harry blinked, partially because he could honestly never recall a single moment when his mother had seemed so serious and so…fearful, at the same time. "I understand mother."

* * *

 _Harry was pressed tightly against some sort of stone, his arms forced out to either side as vines, as black as his robes, held him in place almost painfully. Voices. Dozens of voices echoed rhythmically around them, but not all. A figure dressed in black stepped forth…his hand shining as he brought his hand up to Harry's exposed arm. Harry's teeth gritted in agony as the black figure pierced his right arm with the object before traveling down towards his elbow, causing blood to fall from his arm like a river._

 _The black figure disappeared as the chanting increased tenfold. The vines tightened further on his body, the thrones cutting through the cloth and into his skin. The chanting reached a crescendo, and the world exploded into light even as the Force cried out in revulsion._

 _Then there was man; a man with no face and red eyes standing before Harry. A wand leveled at his eyes as Harry stared back at the faceless man with hatred. Words passed…inaudible. Save for when the no faced man's eyes glowed red with delight._

 _"Suffer!"_

With a cry of agony, Ahsoka sat bolt upright in her bed. Her body covered in a thick sheen of sweat as her breath came and left in uneven gasps. 'A– a vision…it had to be.' She shuddered, pulling her knees up to her chest. 'Harry…he was…being tortured. Force…he…there was so much pain!'

Never before had she ever had a Force vision that powerful before. The agony that Harry was being forced to endure…it made what she'd been forced to suffer at the hands of the Empire after her capture seem light in comparison. 'And I felt it all…' She thought, lowering her head to her knees as tears started to swell at the corners of her eyes. 'I felt it all…'

Throwing her covers off of her body, she made it two steps towards her door before the cold air hit her body. Stopping, she hurriedly made her way over to her dresser and pulled out a random shirt and pants before throwing them on and running out into the hall. Even if she'd paused to ask herself where she was going, she probably wouldn't have been even able to answer as her mind was running completely on autopilot. Reaching her destination, she frantically began pounding on the door praying that it would open.

It didn't even register in her mind where she was in the Temple, nor what time it even was, until the door open revealing a shirtless, but thankfully still dressed in a pair of baggy pants, and obviously freshly awoken Harry. "Ahsoka?" Harry called out sleepily, rubbing at his eyes. "What's the-"

That was as far as he got as she threw herself at him, her arms wrapping around his body as tightly as the vines in her vision as she clung to him. "You're here…you're here…" She heard herself repeating as she held him, pressing her face against his warm chest.

"A-Ahsoka?" The alarm in Harry's voice reached through the fog that'd settled in on her, bringing her back enough so that she could lean her head back just far enough to look him in the eye. "Ahsoka…what's wrong?"

Ahsoka opened her mouth to say something, but all that came out was a moan as she buried her head back into his shoulder and pushed him into the room, letting the door slam shut behind them. She could vaguely feel as Harry brought his arms around her, holding onto her tightly as he began gently rocking back and forth while murmuring, "It's alright Ahsoka…whatever's wrong I promise that it'll be alright."

She had no idea how long she stood there in his arms, trying to draw comfort from him, but eventually she managed to gather enough strength to push back from him slightly. Although he still kept his arms wrapped loosely around her shoulders which made her heart flutter ever so slightly. "I– I'm sorry about that." She murmured, unable and unwilling to look up at him out of embarrassment for what she just did.

"Hey," Harry said softly, one of his hands coming around and finding its way under her chin and gently lifting her face so that they were staring eye to eye with one another. "It's alright Ahsoka. You have nothing to apologize about. Do you…do you want to talk about it?"

 _'No_.' "Yes." She cursed as soon as she said that as she'd meant to say 'no' and think 'yes'. But now she was stuck. "I– I had a vision. A true Force vision."

Harry's eyes widened fractionally as he led her into his room and over towards one of two comfortable looking chairs in the center of his room. Pausing, he waved his hand towards the small fireplace in his room. A light fire sprung to life, eating away at the logs within, giving the room of soft glow as he deposited her into one of the chairs before taking the other for himself. "Alright," he said, taking her hands in his own and staring at her eye to eye. "Tell me what you saw."

Taking in several deep breaths Ahsoka nodded. "I couldn't see much. But what I did see…I saw you. Held against a stone statue of some kind while all around you black figures were chanting. Then one came up to you and cut your arm. Then– then there was a man with no face and red eyes. Taking another deep breath, she made sure she was looking right into Harry's black and green eyes before continuing. "He tortured you. I– I don't know what he was doing…but you were screaming louder than I've ever heard before. And– and everyone around was just watching and laughing at you. Then– and then I woke up."

Harry didn't say anything for some time after she'd finished. Not that Ahsoka could blame him. It wasn't every day that one was told someone had a vision of them being tortured. "Was– was there anything else you could see in the vision?" Harry asked tentatively. "Was there anyone there besides the man with red eyes and the black figures?"

Ahsoka couldn't hold his gaze and looked down. "I– I don't know. I can't-"

"Ahsoka." Harry urged, forcing her to look at him again. "Please. It may be important. Did you hear or see anything else besides what you've already told me?"

"I– I don't…" Ahsoka cried softly, shaking her head as she tried desperately to remember something, anything, besides those red eyes full of malice and the sounds of Harry's screams. "I– I think I heard someone calling out for them to stop but…but it could've just been me in my own head. But, there is one thing I know for certain. And– and it's the timing," pausing, she made sure she had his complete attention. "It will occur just after you're whisked away from the maze Harry. Please, please Harry don't go through with this! I– I've lost so much already. I can't…I can't lose you too."

"Ahsoka," Harry called out, trying to brush away at the tears that were falling from her eyes, yet failing to do so as she turned her head away from him. Not able to look at him. "Ahsoka, look at me."

Reluctantly, Ahsoka turned her head. His glowing green eyes surrounded in a pool of black almost seemed to pierce through to her very soul. "You're not going to lose me. And I'm not going to lose you either." He said calmly. "You may get hurt. I may get hurt. But, we're at war. Sure it hasn't been declared officially yet, but soon enough you and I both know that it will be. And my mother said that there are two rules every commander needs to realize about being in command.

"Rule number one, people will get hurt and die. And rule number two, no one can change rule number one. You already know this Ahsoka. And tell me honestly…if you knew that there was a chance to defeat the Sith Emperor that destroyed the Jedi and corrupted your former Master, would you take it? Even if you knew that you would have to endure again what originally happened to you when you captured by the Empire the first time?"

Ahsoka didn't even bother to try and stop the tears from falling from her eyes. "That's not fair Harry. This isn't the sam-"

"This is the same." Harry pressed. "If we don't stop Voldemort here and now, his influence will grow like a cancer and plague this world. And if I have to endure a bit of pain to try and stop him and get vengeance for the death of my parents then so be it. And you can't sit there and tell me that you wouldn't do the same."

Ahsoka lowered her eyes once more, her shame mounting as the words Master Yoda had spoken to her months ago came to the forefront of her mind. 'Be wary, Knight Tano. For in the end, ultimately selfish, love is. When the time comes, careful choice, you must make. For love, or for betterment of all. A hard choice, this is. Fallen, many have when pressed on this matter.'

Leaning forward slightly, Ahsoka let her head fall against Harry's bare shoulder. "I– I'm sorry." She whispered. Looking back on her actions now with a slightly clearer head; she couldn't believe how clouded her actions had been. And only now did she truly appreciate the gravity of what Master Yoda had said.

Her body felt completely weightless as she sagged heavily against him. She felt completely and utterly drained, both emotionally and physically. There was no strength left in her. Not even to sit up right. If not for his arms holding onto her gently, she was sure that she would've face planted onto the floor. Mercifully, Harry didn't say anything as she leaned against him. He merely held her, giving her the support and comfort that she needed.

The two stayed like that for a long time. Neither of them spoke, instead taking preference in enjoying the silence and drawing comfort from the other. "Harry," Ahsoka called out slowly as she pulled back from him slightly. "I– I don't want to go back to my room tonight."

If not for what she'd just gone through, she would've laughed outright at the expression that came across her boyfriend's face. "Ah– Ahsoka! I– er…not really sure how that would work. I mean, I've only got the one bed. I suppose that I could sleep on the floor or in one of the chairs if you wanted. Or maybe I could ask Winky to bring up another bed and then-"

"Harry." Ahsoka cut across firmly, ending his tirade. "Just get in the bed already."

Harry hesitated only for a second before scrambling to his feet and crawling under the sheets of his bed. Taking a second to center herself, Ahsoka purposefully made her way over to the small bed. If they slept shoulder to shoulder, there would be just enough room for the two of them to sleep comfortably. Not that she necessarily planned on sleeping that way though. After a moment's consideration, she waved her hand towards the fire and used the Force to extinguish the low fire, plunging the room into darkness.

Not giving Harry's eyes the time need to adjust to the sudden darkness, and not giving herself the time to second guess herself, she quickly stripped off of her shirt and crawled in under the sheet with Harry. "Ahsoka?" Harry croaked as she felt his skin touch hers. "Are– are you-"

"Not a word." She said softly, laying her head against his pectoral muscle as her right hand rested across his chest. "I– I can't really sleep with a shirt on. But don't dare think that this is an open invitation Potter."

Beneath her, she felt him swallow hard and shudder. After a few awkward moments the arm she was laying on wiggled out from underneath her and wrapped itself around her back, allowing her snuggle in closer to him as he held him. "I would never dream of doing anything you didn't want me too Ahsoka."

Pressing her head back down onto his chest, she closed her eyes and listened to the steady, albeit rapid, beating of his heart. Slowly, his heart rate began to settle as his breathing evened out. 'I can't let anything happen to you Harry.' She thought as she felt him drift off into the realm of dreams. 'I've lost far too much to lose you too. I won't lose you. No matter what. I swear it.'

* * *

Sitting in a tent with the other three champions as they waited for the judges, Harry had his eyes closed as he tried keeping his emotions in check. The final week leading up to the third task passed by in a complete blur as Harry went through his daily routine in complete autopilot. His mind had been completely focused on the upcoming task, or more accurately his upcoming confrontation with Voldemort. His entire life he'd been training for this moment. He would finally face off against the man responsible for the murder of his parents, again. Only this time, there would be no escape for the Dark Lord. Not if Harry could help it.

Although, if he was being completely honest with himself, it wasn't just the Dark Lord that was weighing on his mind. More often than not, especially when he laid down to rest for the night, his mind would wander back to Ahsoka and the night they'd shared together just before he came back to Hogwarts. They didn't do anything, well except for a few innocent kisses in the dark. And he didn't see anything either. But the feel of her warm skin on his…the feel of her Force presence so close to his own. Those thoughts had led to more than one instance where Harry had to take matters into his own hands as it were, or risk having a sleepless night.

But despite the week leading up to this moment passing by so quickly, the past few hours had actually dragged by at a snail's pace. First there was Dumbledore's grand announcement of the final task and a recap of what a "wonderful" experience it'd been so far to host the two foreign schools. Then the champions had been pulled aside so that they could spend some time with their families just before the task was set to begin.

That had been more than slightly awkward as Harry had to act as if his mother and Ahsoka were actually with him, not Master Fay and Maris. After an hour of sitting with two women who looked like his mother and his girlfriend despite not being them, Harry and the other champions had been ushered down to the waiting tents where they were given uniforms to change into before the task. Just like in the first task, Harry turned down his uniform. Not that he didn't mind representing his school, but as he'd said before, Cedric was Hogwarts champion. Not only that, but his Guardian robes allowed for far better movement than the gaudy piece of fabric that could only have come from the mind of his eccentric Headmaster.

Feeling several presences approaching the tent, Harry forced himself out of his meditation and opened his eyes just in time as the tent flap opened allowing the judges to enter. "Well champions…here we are! The third and final task of the first Triwizard Tournament in a long time." Bagman beamed, looking over each of them one at a time. "The rules for this final task are simple. No lethal spells and no Unforgivables. The first one to reach the center of the maze where the cup awaits will be declared the winner. And other than that…there are no rules once you enter the maze!"

"While this is a competition between you four, I urge you all to remember how you succeeded in the second task." Dumbledore added quickly, stepping forward. "You gain more from working with those around you rather than pushing them away."

Bagman blinked dumbly at Dumbledore before snapping himself out of whatever haze he'd been in. "Right, well then! Before we head out we have something for each of you. So, if each of you will please step forward and pick up your portkey-badges we can get started!"

Getting up from his kneeling position, Harry walked towards the judges, and nearly scoffed as he saw that badges that Bagman was holding. One was in the shape of a badger. One was in the shape of a lion. One was a capital letter 'B' surrounded with golden accents. And the last looked like a deer skull and antlers with two birds sitting atop its head. 'Well I was right.' Harry thought as he grabbed the lion badge and placed it on robes. 'Each portkey was unique.'

"Right-o!" Bagman smiled. "Now then, to explain what you will be facing in the maze I turn the floor over to our hosting Headmaster, Headmaster Dumbledore."

"Thank you Ludo." Dumbledore nodded politely. "First, I want to say that we are proud of all of you. Your accomplishments during this tournament have been outstanding. But unfortunately, there can be only one overall champion. As was explained to you before, you will each be released into the maze at five minute intervals in accordance with your current point rankings. On top of that, there are four entrances to the maze. Each of which can only be entered once before they will close permanently. Now within the maze you will be tested for your physical capabilities, your magical knowledge, and your wits. You must use all three if you hope to reach the center and claim the trophy.

"And just so that you are all not startled. Your badges are portkeys which will take you out of the maze should you fall unconscious or should you wish to withdraw. Also, the Triwizard Trophy itself is a portkey as well that will activate all of the others, save for the one that it is nearest to it. Any questions? No? Very well then. If you will please follow us we will be heading out into the starting area."

Turning on his heel, Dumbledore led the way out of the tent followed quickly by Maxime, Karkaroff and Umbridge. Cedric, Fleur and Viktor all walked out single file leaving Harry last. "A moment Harry," Bagman said softly, stopping him just before he could exit the tent.

"What?" Harry asked, narrowing his eyes at the man.

Bagman swallowed and cast a quick look over his shoulder. "If possible take the south route and at the first opportunity head north and keep going north."

Harry blinked once, but before he could ask what the man meant he had turned around and left the tent, leaving Harry to jog in order to catch up with everyone else. _'Well…someone wants me to win.'_

Following after the judges and his fellow champions, Harry stared up at the twenty foot tall hedges as they entered the maze. _'Even after all these years…magic still impresses me. I wonder if the same type of magic that they used to grow these hedges so fast could be incorporated into food production as well. Hmm…definitely something worth checking out.'_

After walking between the hedges for a solid minute, the small group emerged into an oval clearing. As they stepped out, the sounds of cheering erupted making Harry wince as he fought the urge to cover his ears. ' _Bloody hell…this is louder than the World Cup was!'_

After the four champions had gathered into the center of the oval, the path that they'd taken to arrive closed up on itself as four other paths opened. One to the north, one to the south, one heading east and the last heading west. _'Ah…so that's what he meant by the 'take the south route'. It's probably the quickest to the end of the maze.'_

Clearing his throat, Bagman pressed his wand to his throat. " _ **Witches and wizards! Welcome to the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament!" The cheering grew even louder as the crowd roared. "Today our brave champions shall be tested! Their magic, their wits and their endurance shall be put to the test as they traverse this maze! And while they have all done wonderfully so far, there can be only one Champion! Who shall it be? Our current point leader Viktor Krum? Or perhaps the hometown hero Cedric Diggory? Or maybe it will be the ever beautiful and intoxicating Fleur Delacour? Or perhaps he will defy all odds and Harry Potter, the youngest champion in history, will be the one to claim eternal glory!"**_

The crowd cheered even louder, Bagman seemed to be soaking it all up like a sponge. _**"And without further ado…I bid our champions the best of luck! Mr. Krum. The honor of going first is yours. Choose your path wisely. And once you enter the maze the timer for your competitors will begin!"**_

Krum, after waving his hand to the crowd, turned and nodded to Harry and the others. "Good luck." He wished them all before turning around and heading into the southern path, which sealed up as soon as he walked through.

'Well,' Harry thought as Bagman's face fell momentarily. 'So much for that idea.'

Five minutes later, Bagman held his wand to his throat again. _**"And that is five minutes! Cedric my boy, the choice is now yours to make!"**_

Cedric didn't wait as he immediately took off at a light jog into the northern path. Leaving only Harry and Fleur waiting for their chance to head out. _**"Fleur Delacour! The choice is now yours to make!"**_

Straightening her back, Fleur took one step towards the eastern path before stopping and turning around to face Harry. " _Bonne chance Harry Potter."_

"Good luck Fleur." Harry nodded back before Fleur graced him with a smile and headed off down the eastern path.

Now alone, Harry's mind began to race. _'Odds are I won't be able to find them in the maze. According to Susan and the others, the maze goes on for miles._ ' Looking down at the badge on his chest, Harry grimaced. _'I guess I just have to hope that all he wants is me and none of the others. But still...who set the portkeys? And is this the actual trigger that will take me away? Or maybe…Dumbledore said that cup was a portkey as well. Maybe that is the one. Damn it. I guess I don't really have much of a choice. I can't run the risk of the trophy being the true portkey and having one of the others reach it first. Guess I actually have to take this whole maze at least semi-seriously.'_

 _ **"And now our youngest champion, Harry Potter! There is only one path left. Best of luck young lad!"**_

Squaring his shoulders, Harry held his head high and took off into the maze at what he considered to be a light jog, but would actually be a full sprint to many others. As soon as he was in the maze, he opened himself to the living Force trying to get a beat of where the cup might be. _'Damn it._ ' He hissed. _'There's far too much magic condensed in the area. And without actually seeing the cup beforehand, I can't find it. I guess I'm just going to have to do this the old fashion way. Although…Bagman did say head north…maybe…'_

Slowing his pace ever so slightly, Harry pulled out his wand and sent a powerful cutting charm into the brush. A huge gash opened in the brush, but any damage he caused was repaired just as quickly as he could inflict it. Next he tried burning the hedges. The brush went up like kindling for a second before the flames extinguished leaving a pristine hedge. Giving it one last shot, he conjured up a walking stick and shoved it into the thicket. The stick snapped in half as he felt something within the hedge grab hold of the stick and snap it in half. _'Must have some devil's snare mixed in_.' Harry theorized as he kept running. _'Well…so much for plan A. Guess I really do have to huff it.'_

Rounding another corner in the corner, Harry suddenly found himself running upside down. _'Shit_!' Harry cursed as he jumped back reflexively and the world righted itself. _'Has to be some sort of enchantment…very clever.'_

Stepping forward, the world flipped once more, only this time he was ready for it. Instead of backing out, Harry focused on the path ahead of him and shattered the illusion with the Force. _'Hmph. Pathetic.'_

Taking off again, Harry raised his wand to his eyes. _"Omnes videntes."_

His vision pulsed, and he could just barely make out two red dots of to his front and left, while the third as behind him and to the right. As he watched, the dots continued to move around frantically with no set pattern or direction to their movements. _'Well…it looks like we're all lost in here.'_

Lowering his wand from his eyes, Harry remembered Bagman's advice and continued heading north. _'Not really sure if this is way I should be going or not. But from what I can sense, the strongest concentration of magic is in this direction. So it's a safe bet that-'_

Harry's feet skidded to a stop. Just before him, blocking the entirety of the path before him, was a creature that he'd only read about before. "Ah…a visitor at last." The sphinx purred, raising one gigantic paw to distinctly feminine human face and giving it a long lick.

Swallowing, Harry took a tentative step towards the hulking beast as he tried recalling anything that he'd read about the legendary creature. _'I can't run around it. I might be able to jump over it or simply blast it out of the way…but its reflexes are incredibly fast.'_ "I don't suppose that you'd consider letting me past would you?"

The sphinx stopped licking its paw and shrugged. "I might. But you have to entertain me first by proving your wits. Answer my two riddles and the path is yours. Agree to my third and clue I shall bestow. Deny and a long path around awaits you. Guess wrong…and flesh I will claim."

 _'Damn it.'_ "Ask your riddles."

The sphinx smiled. "No man has seen it, but all men know it. Lighter than air, sharper than any sword. Comes from nothing, but will fell the strongest armies. Of what do I speak?"

Harry's brow furrowed as he thought. "Hunger."

The sphinx smiled. "Very good. Now answer me this. I have seas with no water, coasts with no sand, towns without people, and mountains without land. What am I?"

Harry didn't need to think about this one. "A map. Now give me the last riddle."

This time the sphinx laughed. "Oh very good human. I like you. But I fear your flesh shall soon be mine to feast upon. But you wish to truly test your wits? Then I am not one to deny. Very well, listen well human, for I shall only say this once. First think of the person who lives in disguise. Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies. Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend, the middle of middle and end of end? And finally give me the sound often heard, during the search for a hard-to-find word. Now string them together and answer me this. Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?"

This one actually gave Harry pause for a moment. _'Damn it…there has to be something…Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies…a spy. The last thing to mend and the middle of middle and end of en- that's the letter 'D'. Now string them…oh! Spy-d. But a creature. Spider!'_

"Spider."

The sphinx actually looked surprised. "Hmph…impressive human." The large creature purred before getting up and moving aside. "I would've enjoyed feasting on your flesh. But a deal is a deal. And the path is yours. And for you clue…your goal is just ahead, with three paths. Continue on forever. Get left in the darkness. But turn left three times and your treasure shall you find."

Harry smirked as he figured it out. _'Don't go straight, or left. Instead go right at the next path._ ' "Thank you, mighty sphinx." He bowed to the massive creature before taking off at a dead sprint once more.

At the next intersection, Harry split off and ran off down the right path. Over the next twenty minutes he ran through the maze, countering any and all obstacles that were thrown in his path. There was a section of the maze that was enchanted to look like a thick swamp, but was actually just an illusion. Another path was guarded by a relatively smaller acromantula, which Harry did feel a slight pain of regret for killing it but only because he knew that Hagrid would be upset because of the loss. Then there was also a nasty little hidden patch of devil's snare that was in the middle of the path.

 _'Thank the Force for that little warning,'_ Harry thought as he landed on his feet just out of the reach of the devil's snare. _'That would've slowed me down more than a little bit.'_

Rounding one last corner, Harry felt a pulse through the Force as he came to a stop. Directly in front of him, no less than fifty yards away was the Triwizard trophy; sitting on a podium for all to see. _'Okay_ …' Harry thought looking around. _'It can't really be that easy…could it?'_

Reaching out with his senses Harry felt the immediate area for any residual magic. But besides the now familiar pulses coming from the hedges and the trophy before him, he couldn't sense anything. 'Well…only one way to find out I guess.'

Taking one step forward down the path, Harry cursed as the hedges around him started groaning and moving about. 'Oh shit!' Taking off at a dead sprint, Harry just barely managed to stay two steps ahead of the hedges as they closed in behind him. _'Come on Harry! Just a…few…more…paces…and…gotcha! Whoa shit!'_

The moment Harry's fingers closed around the trophy, he immediately felt a pull at his navel as the portkey activated and he was once more forced to endure the relentless spinning through the ether of the Force. _'Damn it! There has got to be a better way to travel magically!'_

The spinning came to an abrupt end, as his feet landed hard on solid ground. Wherever he'd ended up was dark. And not just dark in the sense of a lack of light. The dark side was almost oppressively strong in the air. "Harry? Where are we?"

Blinking, Harry felt his heart sink as he whipped around, praying to whatever higher power there was that he was alone. But his prayers went unanswered as he found Fleur, Cedric and Viktor standing just behind him.

"Fuck," Harry cursed, spinning around in a circle as he felt a warning from the force assault him on all sides. "Get do-"

His words died in his throat as dozens of red stunners shot out from the darkness. Cedric and Viktor went down first as each were hit with spells dead center in the chest. Fleur managed to evade one or two while pirouetting like a dancer, but she only managed to keep that up for a few seconds before she went down as well. Harry felt the first stunner hit him in the leg, the darkness encroaching on his vision as he pulled deeply on the Force to keep consciousness. But then the second bolt hit him. Then the third. By the forth he was on the ground on his hands and knees. And when the fifth struck him his world descended into darkness.

* * *

Sitting in the stands, Ahsoka, or rather Maris Brood sat high up in the stands staring down at the large hedge maze below. She couldn't deny that the potion that she'd drank before coming here was positively astounding. Being able to morph into someone was a trait that was reserved solely for Changelings. Being able to do so at will, with only a single strand of the intended target's hair was incredible! Even though they didn't end up using any hair from Ahsoka, seeing as how togruta are naturally hairless. But somehow Grand Master Nox managd to alter the potion enough so that they could us a single drop of blood instead of hair. She still remembered Master Nox and Lord Black arguing about her findings a while back. Black insisted that it was impossible to do, while Nox countered that the potion just needed the DNA at the roots of the hair, and therefor with a slight alteration the potion could use a single drop of blood instead.

Maris didn't really care how it worked though, she just cared that it did! And…the fact that she'd transformed into Ahsoka of all people was just a bonus! Having Ahsoka's, admittedly teenage but still grown, body…she was actually reveling in the attention she was receiving from everyone around her. Attention that her younger body, which had yet to fully develop, wouldn't garner for several years.

"Harry's gone." Master Nox, or rather Master Fay stated suddenly, pulling Maris out of her musings. "Reach out with the Force young one. You will sense that his presence is gone.

Frowning, Maris stared back out over the maze and stretched out with her senses trying to find Harry, but coming up empty. "I can't sense him Master," she nodded, reaching into the folds of her robe and pulling out the small spherical device that Grandmaster Nox had given her.

Remembering what she'd been told, she pressed down on two specific spots amongst the intricate designs on the sphere, making it split into two halves. Turing the top half around a half turn, she realigned the design before pushing it back together. She felt the briefest of Force pulses emanating from the small sphere. But the pulse last for only the briefest of moments before it was gone, leaving her once again holding what looked like just an intricate piece of metal.

"Do– do you think that they'll be alright?" Maris asked the famous Jedi Master, now Guardian Master, tentatively.

"I know they will." Fay responded with conviction. "Trust in the Force little Maris. They'll be fine. It's those other idiots that want to hurt Harry that really need to worry."

* * *

Pacing back and forth like a caged nexu, Grandmaster Nox of the Guardian Order waited impatiently beside her LAAT for the signal to come in that Harry had disappeared from the maze. Due to the magical nature of Hogwarts, and the fear that whoever abducted him would try and disable any tracking spells or short out any electronic devices he had, if they were smart that is, they couldn't risk activating the small tracking beacon that'd been injected beneath his skin until they received the signal. So Nox was stuck doing the one thing she hated. Waiting. While around her the Guardians and the three squads of battle ready troopers checked and rechecked their equipment. The only Guardians who weren't with them at the moment were Maris, Nat, Fay and Yoda. Nat was with Yoda back at the Temple and Maris was with Fay at Hogwarts.

Those four served a dual purpose as well. Should this mission go wrong, they were part of the "last man standing" policy she'd created. Should the worst happen, the wards of the Temple would reconfigure themselves on the one she'd chosen and they would become responsible for the continuation of the Order. She trusted Yoda, to a growing degree, more so than Fay to finish training not only Nat, but Luke and Galen as well in the way of the Guardians. So should the worst come to pass, those four, plus the two boys and the Knights and Apprentices at Hogwarts would be responsible for continuing on the Order.

The only condolence to the situation she was in, and it was slight at that, was the fact that she was not the only one who was visibly impatient. Ahsoka looked as if she was about ready to hijack the nearest LAAT and take off on her own. _'Understandable_.' Nox thought. _'I used to get the same look as her whenever Ashara I and I would pull off these types of missions, or even more recently I know I'm in a somewhat similar state whenever Nymph is away on a mission that could lead her into danger.'_

Feeling a strong vibration in her pocket, Nox didn't even waited to check what it was as she turned to the trooper manning the satellite uplink. "We've got the signal. Activate the tracking beacon."

"Yes ma'am!" The trooper shouted as his fingers quickly started to dance across the keyboard in front of him.

The moment she'd made her proclamation, all attention was on her and the trooper as the Guardians and the troopers gathered around the two of them. "Satellite link up confirmed." The trooper announced. "Triangulating his position and…single locked! He's in Little Hangleton in what looks like the local graveyard."

"Everyone load up!" Nox shouted, creating a flurry of movement as the three squads, their commanding clone and the Guardians ran to their assigned LAATs.

Stepping into her own shuttle along with Ahsoka, Obi-Wan and Rex, Nox reached up and grabbed hold of the netting above their heads as the shuttle rocked slightly as it began to take to the air and the door began closing. "Pilot," she called forward. "What's our ETA?"

"Fifteen minutes ma'am!" The pilot shouted back, making Nox close her eyes and curse.

' _Fifteen minutes of hell_.' Nox thought, trying to reach out for her son but finding their connection muddled. ' _More than likely out cold…which could be either a good thing as it will buy us the time we need to reach him. Or…it could be a really bad thing.'_

Sensing movement beside her, she spied Ahsoka out of the corner of her eye. The young togruta was practically bouncing in place. But more than that, fear was radiating off the girl at an almost sickening level. And it wasn't the fear commonly found in one that was about to enter battle either. "Ahsoka," She called out, making the younger girl look up at him. "My son is strong. Stronger than many will ever give him credit form. Trust in him."

Ahsoka bit her lip, but nodded nonetheless and turned to stare once more at the countryside flying past them. _'Be safe my son._ ' Nox thought, her hand tightening on the netting. 'And woe be to any who harm you…I'll make their deaths legends that parents tell their kids to keep them in line.'

* * *

Groaning, Harry tried to move his arms only to find them being held down tightly against a hard surface by something that was...moving. And incredibly sharp. Forcing his eyes open, Harry found himself suspended several feet up off the group as thick black vines wrapped themselves around his arms, chest and legs.

"Ah, I see that our guest of honor has finally decided to grace us with his presence."

Twisting his head, not an easy feat as the vines had begun wrapping around his neck and head as well, Harry glared at what he saw before him. There were no less than twenty, and those were the only ones he could see black robed figures standing around a large boiling cauldron hung up over a fire. But more than that were the three figures that were bound and gagged with the same type of vines as he and were being forced to kneel just off the side.

 _'Shit…they've got the others as well!_ ' Flexing his hands, Harry could that his wand holsters were still strapped to either wrist, but given how tight the vines were around his wrists he couldn't draw his lightsaber at the moment. That, and his wand wasn't anywhere near him. He could've gone wandless…and while he was more than slightly proficient at wandless abilities, he was limited. And there were more than a few Death Eaters around at the moment.

"What's the matter Potter? No snappy comment? Your father would've been so disappointed in you."

Craning his head over slightly, Harry glared at the silver mask belonging to the one who'd been speaking. "Malfoy…I'm surprised. I thought your lips were so permanently fixed to your Master's ass that you wouldn't be able to come out and play. Although… considering your great 'Master' is little more than a parasitic wraith I guess it would be hard to kiss his ass."

The figure that was Lucius stood stock still for a moment. His only response was to slash his wand across his body. Harry gritted his teeth as the vines covering him tightened to the point where he thought his bones were going to break. "Come…on." Harry wheezed. "Is that…the best you…got? Fucking…pussy."

Malfoy twisted his wand and the vines around Harry started to heat, searing his skin for a brief moment before it all stopped and the vines loosened enough so that he could breathe once more. Harry cursed as he saw the other three champions fighting against the bindings trying to stop what was happening to him. _'Damn it all_ ,' he wanted to yell at them. ' _Stop drawing attention to yourselves! As long as their attention is on me you three will be fine!'_

"Silence!" Lucius shouted, stomping over to Cedric and kicking him in the face before backing handing Fleur across the face even as another masked individual slapped Viktor. "You three have been granted a high honor here tonight. Do not press your luck or our patience." He paused, looking up at the sky as the clouds parted to reveal a new moon high overhead. "It is time."

The vines holding him in place strained as he tried to throw himself at the small rat faced man who walked into the graveyard clearing carrying a small bundle in his arms. "Wormtail!" Harry hissed loudly, making the small rat flinch. "You're a fucking dead man!"

The sniveling rat shuddered, making more than one of the cloaked figures laugh at his expense. "Enough!" A strangled hiss came from the small bundle in Wormtail's arms, ending all laughing. "The time…isss nigh. Luciusss…begin…"

"Yes, my Lord." Lucius's head bowed slightly as he walked over to one of the black robed figures, this one only distinguishable from the others because he held a plate in his hands. Atop of which sat a pristine looking skull.

Picking up the skull, Lucius moved back towards the cauldron in the center. As he did, all of the black robed figures knelt as one and began a low chant as Lucius held the skull high above his head. "Bone of the father, unknowingly given. You shall renew your son!" Throwing the skull into the cauldron, the liquid contents splashed as puff of green smoked billowed up into the air.

Turning around, Harry saw a flash of steel emerge in Lucius's hand as he stalked towards him. Coming to a stop just before him, Harry glared down into the eye sockets of the bone mask. Without a word, Lucius lashed out, slamming the knife into his left arm up to the hilt before twisting the blade and wrenching it free. Harry nearly bit his lip in his effort to keep from crying out in pain. _'Come on! This is nothing! Mother's training was harder than this!'_

"Is that…all you got Lucius?" Harry gasped through the pain.

His comment earned himself a backhand across the face as Lucius glared at him for a full minute before turning around fast enough so that his cloak billowed out behind him. "Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken." Lucius drawled, knocking the knife against the edge of the cauldron so that Harry's blood entered the mixture. "You shall resurrect your foe!"

Next, one of the kneeling followers stepped forward and bared his arm before Lucius. "Flesh of the servant," Lucius drawled, grabbing the arm and pulling it over the cauldron. "You sha-"

"What's the matter Lucius?" Harry yelled out, growing desperate to stall for time. "Too much of pansy to carve off your own flesh for your precious 'Master'? Like father like son I guess. Far too cowardly to do the dirty work themselves."

Lucius's hand holding the dagger froze in the air as he started visibly shaking with rage. "Ignore…him Luciusss!" The figure, who Harry was now sure to be some malformed version of Voldemort, hissed. "Finish it!"

"…you shall revive your Master!" Lucius yelled, bringing the knife down and cleaving the unnamed Death Eater's hand clean off and into the pot.

Another round of sickly green smoke bellowed out of the cauldron as the Death Eater who'd sacrificed his hand cried out in agony as he was set upon by one of the other black figures. Dropping the knife into the cauldron, Lucius hefted the bundled up figure out of Wormtail's hands and held it above his head. "Behold as he rises once more! The one who has beaten death itself! Rise once more! Our Great Lord Voldemort!" Lucius cried out as he dropped the bundle into the cauldron.

The world was engulfed in a thick white light so bright that Harry had to avert his eyes. But it wasn't just the light…the Force itself was crying out in outrage at what was transpiring. The light, which had been to the point of burningly bright, died instantaneously leaving everyone blinding rapidly as they tried to readjust their eyes. When Harry could finally see again, he noticed that the cauldron was gone. And in its place was a naked man with pasty white smooth skin.

Voldemort had been reborn.

The entire graveyard was entrenched in silence as the figure began running his hands almost lovingly across his new body. "Lucius…robe me."

Lucius was moving even before Voldemort had finished speaking, grabbing one of the cloaks from the nearest Death Eater and walking up to the Dark Lord and placing it onto his form. Freshly robed, Voldemort pushed Lucius aside and strode over to the rat. "Wormtail."

The former Marauder stuttered and shook almost violently as he reached inside his robe and pulled out a long bone white looking wand. "I– I've kept it sa– safe for you my– my Lord."

"As was expected of you Wormtail." Voldemort responded calmly, snatching the wand from the rat and making a show of inspecting it before turning his back on the rat and moving over to the figure that'd sacrificed his arm for his resurrection. "You have served me well. And I reward those who serve me."

Waving his wand, the Death Eater in question screamed for but a moment before he gasped in wonderment. The hand that he'd lost had been replaced with a pure silver hand. "Th– thank you my Lord!" The Death Eater cried, sinking so low to the ground that Harry was sure he was about to actually kiss the Dark Lord's feet.

Completely ignoring the prostrating Death Eater, Voldemort turned back and around and stalked over to the three kneeling champions. He took his time, sizing each of them up one at a time before moving onto the next. "You three have just bore witness to a historic event." Voldemort declared. "For I, Lord Voldemort, have returned. I alone have conquered death. You three…despite one of you having a questionable pedigree," this he said while staring at Fleur, "represent the best of the younger generation of your schools. I offer you three this one chance. Kneel at my feet. Accept my mark. And be welcomed in my new order. What say you?"

Waving his wand, the vines that'd been gagging the three champions receded enough so that they could talk. Fleur, was the first to get a word out. And it was definitely not what anyone had expected. " _Baisez-vous cochon!"_

Voldemort merely sighed as he shook his head. "Such a pity. So beautiful…yet so stupid. _Crucio_!"

Fleur screamed violently as the spell hit her, her body curled in on itself as she convulsed. The vines moved back into her mouth quickly, cutting off her screams as she convulsed under the effects of the spell. Voldemort held the spell on her, a slight smirk playing across his lips mouth.

"Leave them alone fucker!" Harry shouted, struggling against his bonds. "I'm one the one you want! Not them!"

If Voldemort heard him, he made no indication of it. With a neglectful wave of his wand he ended the torture spell that'd been racking Fleur's body and moved over to Krum.

"And you, young man?" Voldemort asked. "I can sense it. You know some of the dark arts, but you have only just scratched the surface. I can show you things that you never even dreamed of before."

Krum stared up at Voldemort, before looking down at the still weeping Fleur. " _Otidat v ada, murtvets."_

Again, Voldemort sighed. "Ah…such shame. _Crucio_!"

Viktor managed only slightly better than Fleur as he actually managed to stay upright for a scant few moments before he too collapsed onto the ground and cried out in agony. Harry didn't try to call out again. He knew it wouldn't do him any good even if he did.

Soon enough Voldemort released the spell on Viktor and moved on to Cedric. "And you would, Cedric of house Diggory, no?" Voldemort asked, using his wand to tilt Cedric's face upwards. "Your father wasss sssmart enough never to take up armsss against me. But he was foolish enough never to ssside with me. Join me, take up the mantle of Head of house Diggory, and I will forgive your family'sss ssslight against me."

Cedric glared up at Voldemort. "Blow me."

Harry was actually mildly impressed by all of their backbones, to stare one so corrupted by the Dark side, which Voldemort was even if he didn't realize it, and to spit in their face was incredible. "I see," Voldemort sighed, shaking his head. "Sssuch a ssshame. Like father like ssson I guessss. _Crucio_!"

Cedric collapsed almost immediately, convulsing in pain until Voldemort ended the spell and turned towards Lucius. "When we are done here they are your toysss, my faithful ssservantsss. You may do with them asss you wish, but they must not be killed, at least not yet. Not while they can still be used to leverage their family's onto our ssside."

Lucius bowed. "I understand, my Lord."

"Yesss…even you could understand sssuch sssimple instructions." Voldemort sneered before turning around and facing Harry. "And now we come to the…boy of the hour ssso to ssspeak." The Death Eaters in the graveyard laughed slightly as Voldemort almost seemed to glide across the space separating the two of them. "Harry Potter…the boy-who-lived. My vanquisher. Nothing more than a lie. You did not cause my temporary fall any more than your pathetic father did."

Glaring down at the man who'd taken his parents from him, Harry had the sudden urge to lash out and break the man's neck. _'Not yet.'_ He cursed himself, trying to put his anger aside for the moment. _'Need to stall for time.'_

"I know." Harry said, drawing more than a few sharp turns of the head from the masked Death Eaters as he leaned forward as much as he could towards the dark lord. "I've never once claimed to have killed you Voldy. But I have to wonder, and tell me the truth. What hurt more? Being disembodied by your own killing curse. Or knowing that it was my muggleborn mother that ended your life you cocksuc-"

Harry's head snapped back as something slammed against his mental barriers with all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop. But as powerful and sudden as the attack was, Harry merely shored up his barriers and rebuffed Voldemort hard enough that the Dark Lord staggered back a few steps. "What's the matter ol' Voldy?" Harry smirked. "Having some difficulty?"

Voldemort stared at him blankly for a minute before smiling widely. "I see that you have inherited your father's bravado, for all the good that it did him. But you have indeed inherited your mother's power and ssskill. But your training…it isss not theirs. No doubt it is thisss mysteriousss Madam Nox's that my followersss have told me about. The leader of these ssso-called 'Guardians'. Which you are no doubt a part of."

This time it was Harry's turn to start, as Voldemort gave him a grin of triumph. Several of the Death Eaters began whispering frantically between each other and the three champions had all overcome the pain of the cruciatus curse enough to stare at him with wide eyes. "Yesss," Voldemort drawled. "You sssee, I remember things Harry. And I try not to let the sssame thing sssurprise me twice. Three yearsss ago, you sssurprised me with a weapon that I've never ssseen before. A weapon that you used to kill Quirinus Quirrell." That drew quite a few more mutters, and a mild look of horror from Cedric.

"And thisss ssstrange weapon, which I've never ssseen or heard of, sssuddenly made a sssecond appearance in the hands of those calling themselvesss the 'Guardiansss'."

Turning his back on him, Voldemort began pacing in front of his followers as if he were teaching a class. "At first I thought that these new people were followers of the old fool himself. But then I realized that they were not. For you sssee, these Guardiansss are not afraid to kill. And are in fact quite willing to do ssso. Ssso, if the old fool wasn't leading them, then who wasss?

"The answer wasss sssimple. A person who made an appearance after the war wasss already placed on hiatusss. Madam Ziri Nox." Turning back to Harry, Voldemort's grin was positively feral. "Like I said boy, I don't like being sssurprised twice. Ssso between Quirrell'sss death and now, I've been planning on how to counter these ssstrange weapons. And now I am more than your match boy. No matter what tricksss Nox hasss taught you. But that'sss not all I've done. I've also undone what your pathetic mudblood of a mother did all those yearsss ago."

Racing forward once more, Voldemort made a dramatic showing of lifting his hand and pressing a finger to Harry's forehead. "You sssee…the protection Lily Potter gave you ensured that I could never touch you. But now…now your mother's protection is gone! Your mudblood whore of a mother might've set me back, but in the end she was still a pathetic and weak litt-"

With a cry of anguish, Harry lashed out at Voldemort, the vines holding him, the stone statue he was being held against and even a few of the Death Eaters that had stupidly ventured too close. The stone statue behind him turned to dust. The vines holding him in place simply ceased to be. The Death Eaters who'd come to close were all thrown back hard, some of them crashing into monuments with enough force to break bones. Voldemort, managed one quick look of shock before he was thrown violently away from Harry, taking his glasses with him as he vainly tried to grab onto something.

Harry could feel the Force rippling around him, manifested as small arcs of lightning as he knelt on the ground. "You should've just kept your fucking mouth shut." Harry growled loudly as he rose to his feet and slowly opened his eyes. "And you have no idea what 'tricks' my mother has shown me. Nor what I've gone through to get to this point."

Opening his hand, the Death Eater that'd been holding onto his wand lurched forward as Harry ripped his wand away. While it was still in midair, Harry pulled the three champions towards him. Catching his wand, he threw three cutting curses which severed the vines that'd been used to secure the three as they flew past him. He then reached out and grabbed the wands of the three champions and pulled them away from the Death Eaters as well, letting them fly past him and land near their original owners.

Voldemort, who'd still been rising to his feet, watched everything he did, his eyes never leaving Harry's black and green.

"I see." Voldemort drawled slowly. "Nox hasss indeed taught you a few interesting tricksss. And your eyesss…most curiousss. But your talent isss wasted ssstanding against me Harry. Ssso…allow me to make you the sssame offer I made your parents." Reaching out with his hand, Voldemort gave him a small smirk. "Join me Harry. Nox has indeed taught you much, but I can teach you more. Together…we can be unstoppable. We ssshall put those who are lesser than usss in their place and rule the world asss isss our right asss the ssstrong. Don't waste your potential defending those who don't deserve it. What say you Harry?"

Part of Harry wanted to laugh out loud. _'Of course he wants me to join him_.' Instead of answering immediately though, Harry snapped his right arm out to his side, drawing his lightsaber into his hand. "There is no Dark side nor a Light side. There is only the Force. I will do what I must to keep the balance. The balance is what sustains me. There is no good without evil, but evil must not be allowed to flourish. There is passion, yet peace. Serenity, yet emotion. Chaos, yet order."

Activating his lightsaber on only the primary emitter, Harry held the glowing black-purple up vertically in front of his face. "I am the wielder of the flame, the protector of balance. I am the holder of the torch lighting the way. I am the keeper of the flame, the soldier of balance. I am a guardian of balance."

Leveling his eyes on the Dark Lord, Harry pointed his lightsaber towards the murderer of his parents. "My mother taught me this code. This code is who I am. And by this code…I will kill you. Tom Riddle."

Voldemort's red eyes narrowed dangerously as more than one Death Eater took an unconscious step back from their master. "No one kills him but me." Voldemort growled, stepping forward.

Taking a step of his own, Harry risked a quick glance over his shoulder at the other champions. All of whom were looking quite addled. "Stay back," he said, raising his lightsaber into a Soresu stance while he held his wand off to the side in his left. "This is between me and him."

Voldemort didn't waste any time as he threw four spells, three towards his torso and one at his feet at Harry so quickly they almost looked to have been casted at once. Using his lightsaber to knock aside the three spells that were aiming for his head before using his wand to cast an isolated shield charm to negate the fourth. 'Soresu isn't my preferred form.' Harry thought as he blocked a killing curse into the ground. 'But after watching just what Master Kenobi was able to do with it…it is just what I need at the moment.'

Voldemort didn't let up his barrage, chaining one spell after another while aiming at different parts of his body while at the same time managing to dodge the hexes and curses Harry sent back his way with a dexterity that was more than slightly puzzling. But not once did Harry actually throw a curse or a hex of his own. Instead using Voldemort's own energy against him.

"Not bad Potter." Voldemort applauded as he dodged yet another of his own spells that Harry sent back at him. His lackeys, after one got hit with a particularly nasty hex that Harry had sent back, had all retreated backward at least a dozen or so paces and all had their wands drawn ready to cast a shield spell. "But I already told you. I know how to defeat you."

Another barrage of three spells shot at Harry almost simultaneously. He just barely managed to block the first two and was mid-move to block the third when the spell stream split and burst into streams of fire that surrounded him. Slashing his own wand across his body, Harry conjured a cyclone of wind from the ground to catch the flame before hitting the now cycling flames with a powerful Aguamenti Spell. The water and flames disappeared in a wall of steam as the two collided with one another. Still controlling the cyclone of wind with his wand, Harry directed the steam towards where Voldemort had been, only for the Dark Lord to appear just in front of him with a crack of apparation.

Using the momentum that was already in the spell, Voldemort added his own gust of wind which dissipated the steam. Seeing his chance, Harry dove forward and slashed his lightsaber horizontally. Voldemort's upper body bent backwards nearly in half as he dodged the attack. Harry had only the briefest of warnings from the Force as he noticed that, despite being bent over, Voldemort had his wand pointed right at him. " _Avada Kedavra!"_

It was only because of the warning that he'd had that he was able to drop flat onto his back as he just barely managed to dodge the curse, the sickly green light passing within an inch of his face.

As he fell, Harry shot a banishing charm at Voldemort's leg. Voldemort, who'd obviously expected his spell to land, hadn't been expecting Harry's counterattack and was thrown back, giving Harry the time he need to spring up and regain his foot. By the time he'd righted himself, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. One of the Death Eaters had been trying poorly to sneak around the fight while everyone else had been watching, his eyes focused on the champions who were all distracted by Harry.

" _Avada Kedavra!"_

Voldemort had rolled over enough to fire off another killing curse, only this time Harry had his lightsaber in position. Angling his lightsaber just so, he managed to deflect the killing curse away from himself and directly towards the lone Death Eater. The woman, which became instantly obvious from her high pitched scream, only managed a single cry of alarm before the spell struck her dead center in the chest, throwing her across the graveyard and killing her instantly.

"This fight is between you and me Tom." Harry growled. "Unless you feel like losing more lackeys, I highly advise they be good little ass kissers and stay back."

Voldemort, who'd by then had gotten back to his feet, tilted his head slightly as he tapped the tip of his wand against the palm of his left hand. "Hm. I would Potter. If only the both of us were actually taking thisss fight ssseriously." The Dark Lord drawled, idly twirling his wand around. "I've been matching your ssskillsss ssso far Harry. And while impressive…they are no more developed than they were three yearsss ago when you faced Quirrell. Which meansss one of two thingsss. Either one, you haven't improved, unlikely. Or two, and far more likely, you are trying to ssstall me in sssome vain hope that you have you help coming to save you."

Shaking his head and tsking, Voldemort took two steps towards him. "Allow me to destroy that hope Harry. There isss no help coming for you. We know about the tracking charmsss that you had on you. And the portkey that my loyal follower gave you ssstripped all four of you of any tracking charmsss asss you traveled through the ether. And if that wasn't enough, they then double checked each of you, making sssure to dispel any tracking charmsss. Although I must sssay that the hair braid in the veela creature was ingenious. I would've never thought of that had you not already used that little trick during your sssecond task. Ssso let me ask you Harry, now that you know there is no hope of sssalvation coming, why are you holding back?"

 _'Huh…I see Fleur is a quick learner. I wonder who's tracking her. Eh, mystery for another time. Either way, ol' Voldy is a little off the mark.'_ "Because I am stalling for time." Harry answered as he began to pace back and forth slightly. "You were right on the fact that I'm waiting for reinforcements. You see, we figured out your game some time ago and set a trap with me as the bait." Pausing, Harry turned around to the champions. "Unfortunately I couldn't tell any of you. And I'd hoped that none of you would've been wrapped up in this. So for that, I apologize. But as for how they would find me once I was pulled out of the maze…they would find me via a muggle tracking means."

The Death Eaters again began muttering amongst themselves and Voldemort narrowed his eyes. "A muggle meansss of tracking are uselessss in the face of magic."

"Oh, most times you are right." Harry nodded, reaching out with the Force. "But you see, we found a way around that. Actually my girlfriend Ahsoka figured it out so credit goes to her. But right now, I'm currently in possession of a muggle tracking 'charm' if you will that is leading our reinforcement's right to us."

Voldemort's eyes darted around briefly as his Death Eaters began looking around as well trying to avoid their Master's gaze. "And pray tell Harry, just where is thisss 'muggle tracking charm' of yoursss?"

"It's in my right ass check. Wanna check?"

Voldemort's wand twitched as a yellow spell shot at him. "Okay," Harry sighed, blocking the attack into the ground. "I lied. It's in my left ass check."

Knocking the second spell into the ground, Harry started chuckling. ' _Okay…it is way too easy to get him riled up. But then again…I'm not feeling anything from him besides the desire to kill. No hatred. No anger. Only a mild frustration.'_ "Okay! I lied again. It's right in-between the two. I'm sure with how much experience Lucius has with sticking his nose up your ass he should have no problem with looking for i-"

A third spell shot out at him, this one a sickly green killing curse that he turned away into a headstone. "Luciusss!" Voldemort yelled, turning his head to look at the Death Eater who'd fired the curse. "He isss mine! And he isss only trying to unravel you. Which I applaud Harry. It ssseemsss you have truly inherited your father'sss gift. But your liesss are at an end. If you had sssuch a meansss of being tracked, your alliesss would've already been here by now."

Feeling a familiar pulse in the Force, Harry let a full out grin cross his lips. "Be careful with what you wish for Tommy boy…speak of the devil. And he might just appear."

The low humming of the LAATs passing overhead was all the warning the Death Eaters had before hell literally fell upon them as all three of the LAATs forward lasers open fired on the mass of black cloaks. Harry had to give credit where it was due though as only three of the Death Eaters got hit in the initial barrage, while the rest quickly dove for cover or poured all of their energy into shield charms. Even Voldemort was left quickly backpedaling as he conjured up a powerful shield to defend himself.

But putting them on the back foot was all the LAATs were supposed to do. As soon as a zone was cleared, the side doors opened and the Guardians along with their twenty soldiers made the twenty foot drop from aircraft to ground. Nox landed right next to him, her blood-red lightsaber springing to life as she twirled her wand into her left. Harry's heart went up into his throat as Ahsoka landed on his opposite side, her eyes catching his for just brief moment. _'Force…she's beautiful.'_

After that, it was pure pandemonium. All of the Guardians activated their lightsabers and began throwing whatever spells they knew at the now hiding Death Eaters. As they did, the soldiers under the command of the clones took up defensive positions around Harry, or more specifically the champions, and began raining down suppressing fire while overhead the LAATs began weaving as they avoided spells from the ground.

Falling into a rhythm with again, Harry moved in tandem with Ahsoka and his mother as the Guardians started pressing their advance into the graveyard. The soldiers stayed behind laying down covering fire for their advance and keeping an eye on the champions. The Death Eaters, unused to fighting in such conditions, began to fall back trying to keep the Guardians at range as their lightsabers cut down anyone who they get into range with. But that plan was ultimately thwarted as the LAATs moved behind them and started firing down upon any cover they found, forcing them out and towards the waiting blades of the Guardians.

Ducking under an ill-thrown punch of a Death Eater, Harry speared the man through his chest before twirling around and banishing the corpse away with a wave of his wand. As he did, Harry locked eyes with Voldemort and saw something he never thought he'd see. Fear. The Dark Lord was afraid. Snarling, Voldemort twisted in place…and didn't go anywhere.

 _'So that's what took them so long._ ' Harry smirked as he noticed several other Death Eaters trying to either apparate or portkey away and ultimately fail to do so. _'They had to make sure that the anti-portkey and anti-apparation wards were up before we sprung our trap.'_

The Death Eaters, realizing that they'd been caught into a trap and having nearly a third of their number decimated, started throwing everything they had at the Guardians, the troopers and the LAATs overhead. Statues exploded as they were hit with exploding curses. Fire rolled through the graveyard in an effort to keep distance between them. But apparently Voldemort had more followers than Harry had originally counted as the black cloaks seemed to be replaced almost as fast as the Guardians could cut them down.

Leaping over a wall of fire, Harry brought his lightsaber down in a spinning strike, cleaving the Death Eater who'd cast the spell in two. Ducking low, Harry's eyes swept over the battlefield. His mother was currently trading spells with Voldemort. The Dark Lord's face was contorted as everything he did was countered by his mother while most of the curse she sent his way were sent with such velocity and ferocity that he didn't even have time to counter them.

On the edges, Harry saw Asajj and Quinlan fighting side by side against a quartet of Death Eaters. As he watched, Asajj dodged a killing curse before using the Force to summon one of the Death Eaters to her and impaling him on her lightsaber. While she did, Quinlan leapt over her head, throwing his lightsaber as he did and decapitating one Death Eater before catching the second with a blast from his wand and landing safely on his feet.

In another section, Master Kenobi was proving himself to be a true master of Soresu as he parried away every spell that was shot at him while standing guard over one of the trooper squads that'd split from the rest in order to flank the Death Eaters. Both Kento and Mallie were standing side by side, each of the covering the other as they deflected spells, cut down any Death Eater who got too close and retaliated with their own spells.

In yet another section of the graveyard, Aayla and Shaak Ti were standing back to back as the two clearly alien women guarded each other's back from an onslaught of spells that seemed to be coming at them from all angles. But despite their situation, both women looked completely calm and in their element as they moved with a grace and fluidity that was almost baffling.

He briefly sought out Ahsoka, and found her going toe to toe with two Death Eaters that he recognized. ' _Lucius and…Wormtail. The traitor!'_

Harry had been so caught up in scanning the battlefield that he hadn't noticed the two Death Eaters that'd been sneaking up on him until they were quite literally standing over him. "Die Potter!"

Bringing his wand up to create a shield, Harry's eyes widened as both Death Eaters flew off of their perches as several blaster bolts hit both men dead center in the chest in rapid succession.

"A skirmish isn't the time to go sight-seeing sir!"

Harry cursed his own stupidity as a trooper with blue markings and wielding two blaster pistols dropped down next to him. "Trying to assess the situation General Rex."

Holstering the blaster in his left hand, Rex pulled out a grenade from his belt and threw it behind a downed stone column. The grenade went off, forcing the two Death Eaters that'd been using the column for cover to go running. Which is right when Rex took them both down with two accurate shots from the pistol in his right hand. "Then I suggest you assess faster young Master Guardian." Rex nodded to him before moving falling back to his squad.

Gritting his teeth, Harry focused on his target before rolling out of cover and running straight for them. Seeing his approach, Ahsoka ducked underneath a sloppy spell from Wormtail before retaliating with a back roundhouse kick to the side of his head. The fat little rat spun like a top after receiving the kick. He managed a full rotation and a half before stopping. Only to gasp as Harry was right on top of him.

Activating the side-emitters of his lightsaber, Harry punched out and pierced Wormtail's right shoulder with the shortened blade coming out of the side-emitter. "Fucking traitor." Harry growled, Force lightning arching out of his right hand, down his lightsaber and into Wormtail.

"Harry!" Wormtail screamed in agony, falling to his knees as the combination of lightning and having a small lightsaber blade in his shoulder shut his nervous system down. "P-p-p-please…m-m-m-mer-"

Harry didn't give him a chance to continue as he tilted his wrist and wrenched his lightsaber out of his shoulder. In the process, the main blade arched clean through the rat's neck. Then pushing against his body with the Force, Harry threw his body back into another approaching Death Eater as Wormtail's severed head fell to the ground at Harry's feet.

Breathing hard, Harry stared down at the head of the man who his parents had once trusted with their lives. 'A far better fate than you deserved you rat.'

As Harry turned to rejoin the fight, the ground erupted almost right from under him as Voldemort screamed at the top of his lungs and launched a powerful blasting curse into the very ground. All of the Guardians, including Harry, his mother and Ahsoka, were forced to jump back to avoid the explosion. "Damn you Potter!" Voldemort yelled before pointing his wand skyward.

Harry had no idea just what spell Voldemort used, but a dark violet sphere of light shot out from the end of his wand and raced upwards. When it was nearly fifty feet in the air it seemed to almost hit something as the sphere detonated, revealing a dome like shield overhead. As he watched, the dome cracked and eventually shattered as the sphere forced its way through before disappearing.

"Pull back!" Voldemort shouted. His Death Eaters, eager to comply, quickly started disappearing as the wards that'd been preventing them from leaving were suddenly gone. " _Avada kedavra!"_

Harry heard the spell and raised his lightsaber to defend himself. But the spell wasn't aimed at him. Rather, it was aimed at Ahsoka who was currently engaged with another Death Eater. There was no conscious thought as Harry felt his body construct and twist as he apparated between Ahsoka and the deadly curse. Raising his wand, Harry didn't even realize what curse he was shouting until he'd already shouted it. " _Avada kedavra!"_

The two green curses met with a thunderous clap just inches from Harry's wand tip. But instead of cancelling each other out, the two spells…merged together as one creating an arcing bridge of green light between Harry and Voldemort with a small sphere of light close to Harry's wand.

Harry had absolutely no clue as to what was going on, and judging by the look on the Dark Lord's face neither did him. Their confusion lasted for a split second before Harry felt the sphere of light where the two deadly spells had joined coming closer to him, and without even realizing what he was doing Harry began channeling as much power as he could into his spell.

The sphere wavered just beyond the tip of his wand for a moment before quickly heading down the bridge towards Voldemort. Voldemort, realizing what was happening, responded forcing his own considerable power into the spell and the sphere of light froze in-between the two of them. Dropping his lightsaber, Harry grabbed his wand with both hands, grunting with effort as he pulled deeper and deeper on the Force trying to channel as much power as he could into his spell. Slowly, the sphere inched closer and closer to Voldemort until it was just beyond the tip of Voldemort's wand.

Harry could feel sweat pouring down his face from the effort of putting so much power into a single spell. Feeling the sphere stall just within a breath of Voldemort's wand, Harry closed his eyes and pictured his parents. 'For my parents you motherfucker!'

His anger, righteous in nature, added the last little bit of power needed for the sphere to finish its journey into Voldemort's wand. The result was…explosive. A massive shock wave shot out from Voldemort's wand. The few Death Eaters that'd remained to this point were all thrown back. The stone structures were either blown away or simply disintegrated. The Guardians all jumped back hoping to avoid the blast while the troopers all ducked behind their cover.

As the smoke began to clear, a lone figure remained in the center of the blast. Voldemort, his robes burned and torn and half of his face scarred and blackened, was staring down at his right arm in horror. Or rather, he was staring down at what was left of his right arm. As everything from the elbow down was simply gone.

"Master!" A distinctly female sounding Death Eater cried out as she lunged at the Dark Lord. As soon as her arms were wrapped around him, the two disappeared, followed quickly thereafter by the Death Eaters who were still alive.

Blinking dumbly, Harry stared at the spot where Voldemort had disappeared from before allowing his eyes to wander over the battlefield. Dozens of dead black cloaked individuals lay scattered about the ruined graveyard with one or two white armored troopers intermixed with them. But through all the carnage, Harry didn't spot a single Guardian.

Turning on his heel, Harry found all of the Guardians, the troopers, his fellow champions and even Ahsoka and his mother, staring at him in shock. "Wh– what?" Harry muttered taking one step towards Ahsoka. "W- what happ-" It was when he took his second step that his strength left him. His knee bent and just kept on bending. The ground rushed up to meet him as a dozen voices shouted out his name. And then there was only darkness.

* * *

Sitting in a high backed throne in one of his many strongholds, Voldemort hissed as the young girl who'd apparated him out of the battle zone hesitantly applied a paste onto what was left of his right arm. "Forgive me my Lord!"

Glaring at the young woman, Voldemort hissed lowly causing his familiar to slither out from where she'd been warming herself and came to his side so he could stroke her head with his still intact left arm. "Finish it." He glared at the young woman, just barely out of Hogwarts, before turning to look at the four kneeling men before him. "Well Luciusss…how do you explain this failure?"

Lucius raised his head just enough so that Voldemort could see the man's face but not his eyes. "I do not know my Lord. T-the only thing I can think of my Lord is that Barty Crouch Jr talked before he died."

Hissing again, Nagini slithered away from him and started circling the four kneeling men. He already knew that Barty had talked. His faithful servant had already confirmed as much for him well before the ritual had taken place and he'd taken precautions in case she did take action. Precautions which in the end were useless. "I already know that." Voldemort hissed as the girl applied more paste to the stump of his arm. "What I meant, wasss how did Nox sssurprise usss ssso when we had precautionsss in place? Answer me Flint!"

Reacting in response to his anger, Nagini shot out from his side and coiled herself around the kneeling Flint. "My Lord!" The elder Flint cried out in agony as Nagini tightened hard enough to crack bones. "I– I–"

"You were responsible for our outer defensesss tonight!" Voldemort yelled, rising to his feet suddenly and making the girl fall back. "You had one job. To ssset the boundary wardsss and to warn usss of an impending attack. The wardsss were not ssset. And no warning came. Explain yourself!"

Flint's face began turning a violent shade of red as Nagini squeezed him harder and harder. "My…Lord…I- for…give…"

"Why am I wasting my breath?" Voldemort sighed as he turned back around and walked back to his throne. Hissing, " _Nagini, kill_."

Flint screamed as Nagini's long fangs sunk into his flesh, her venom pumping into his blood and dissolving him from the inside out. Wormtail had actually proven quite useful while he was still alive in aiding Voldemort in turning his familiar into a formidable weapon. She was magically resistant. Faster than any known snake. Stronger than any know snake. And her venom not only paralyzed her victims, it slowly digested them from the inside out. Extremely slowly. And painfully. The perfect punishment and lesson.

Sinking back down in his seat, Voldemort closed his eyes and took a moment to enjoy the sounds of the dying man's screams and pleas for mercy. Holding out his stump for the girl to continue, Voldemort turned his eyes onto Lucius. "Luciusss. Have you compiled the list?"

"Yes my Lord," Lucius bowed before getting to his feet and walking towards him while being careful to avoid to the still convulsing Flint. "I have it right here."

Voldemort merely stared at him as Lucius pulled out a scroll from within his robes, unrolled it and held it up so he could read it over. "Hmm…very good Luciusss. You're coming close to earning my forgivenesss." Voldemort nodded as he finished reading the list. "But these turn of eventsss are unfortunate. We will have to accelerate our plansss in order to replenish our now deteriorated ranksss. Contact Valad Sssanguine."

Lucius's eyes widened. "My Lord I– yes. Yes of course my Lord. And what shall I offer him in return?"

"The ssspoils Luciusss. And sssafe passage." Voldemort answered. "In the end, the contents of that list offer little to me. He can keep whatever he wishesss. That will be hisss payment. And prepare the next phase of our plansss. We will have to move quickly to counter the momentum that Nox hasss gained. And contact the Minister and the Prophet. I do not care if you have to empty the entirety of the Malfoy family vaultsss to do it, but I want the people turned against Nox, Potter, Dumbledore and these Guardiansss."

Lucius's eyes bulged at the command, but a low moan of agony from Flint quickly killed off any resistance his servant had. "Of course my Lord. I will see to it that it is done."

"Good. Now leave me. And take that piece of trash out with you. Hisss moaning isss becoming distracting. But don't kill him. The lesson of failure needsss to be taught." Voldemort said, dismissing the remaining three Death Eaters with a wave of his hand leaving just him and the young woman.

Letting his head fall back, Voldemort closed his eyes. He had miscalculated and it had almost cost him everything. Nox was a far more powerful opponent than he'd believed. No doubt she'd hoped to capture or kill him. More than likely the first as he knew that she was the one currently destroying his horcruxes. Which meant that she knew he couldn't die until they were all destroyed. But she had miscalculated. He'd managed to escape. And in turn Nox had shown him her hand. The advantage was now his.

"I've finished applying the paste my Lord."

Opening his eyes, he stared down at the young woman. She was a rather attractive thing. Her dark hair cascading over her commonly face and her tight robes doing nothing to hide her figure. Her magic was slightly better than mediocre, but she had displayed a ruthlessness during the battle and had been one of his only followers to actually take down one of the men in white armor during the battle. But it was her eyes that truly captured his attention. They were wide and full of devotion. He could see the makings of another Bellatrix in this young girl. Not that anyone could ever hope to replace his prized servant. But two were better than one.

"What isss your family name girl?"

The girl's eyes widened ever so slightly. "Flint. My Lord."

 _'Hmm, interesting_.' "Ssso that would make you his daughter. Tell me girl. What do you think of my treatment of your father?"

The girl's eyes hardened in a way that was more than slightly pleasing to him. "He deserved his fate and more my Lord for failing you. He and my pathetic brother both failed you my Lord. My only regret is that I was unable to deliver your punishment upon them."

He didn't need to be an expert Legilimens, which he was, to know that the girl was being completely honest with him. "Very good…now tell me. What are you willing to do for me?"

The girl's eyes widened. "Whatever you would have me do my Lord. I will."

"Good," Voldemort hissed, reaching out with his index finger on his left hand and tracing a line along the girl's jaw and chin. "Because I have a ssspecial task that I think you would be more than sssuited for."

The girl's eyes went half-lidded as he gently pressed on her mind. "I will do whatever you will my Lord. With pleasure."

Feeling a stirring he hadn't felt in sometime, Voldemort smiled. His new body was definitely an improvement over his old one. In every way. But he'd yet to…test out every aspect of his body. Something he planned on rectifying immediately. Especially after the debacle that had just occurred. "Good," he cooed, pulling the girl's head towards his lap. "Ssservice me well…and I you will give you thisss task that you and you alone will be responsible for."

The girl didn't even hesitate as her hands hurriedly pulled his robe aside and her head lowered into his lap. Yes…the girl was almost exactly like Bellatrix. Not as skilled…but that would come in time. But until he got his prized weapon, servant…toy, back. This girl would suffice. Yes indeed…she was definitely quite eager to please.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Welcome back everyone! Just wanted to give my customary thank you to everyone for tuning in to this chapter! Thank you all so much for your continued support! And as always, please leave a review if you feel so inclined to do so! Ask questions, critics, helpful hits or suggestions are all welcome.**

 **And as always, a huge thank you to my two beta readers HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon. Thank you guys so much for your continued help!**

 **Chapter 16**

Opening the door to her flat, Rita Skeeter threw her bag onto the table next to the door and headed immediately into her kitchen. Going to one of her cabinet's, Rita grabbed a bottle of firewhiskey and, forgoing a glass, popped the top and took a pull straight from the bottle. It was definitely time for a celebration! Her boss had been on her arse lately about producing something worthwhile, and she had one hell of a story to tell especially after watching the results of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

The four Champions had arrived back at the exit of the maze after being missing for nearly an hour. Harry Potter was unconscious and the other three were clearly suffering from the after effects of exposure to the Cruciatus curse. So, sensing a story, she'd hitched a ride on Fudge's hat. And what a story the kids had to tell. Voldemort had been resurrected! And Fudge was denying it happened! It was the perfect story! And not only that, it had the added bonus of possibly getting that bitch Nox off of her back. _'I can't even take a shite without her approval._ ' Rita thought angrily, marching out of her kitchen with the bottle in hand and making her way over to her typewriter. _'But now…this should get her off of my back. As long as I can get it done in the next couple of hours so that I can have it in the office in time for the morning edition.'_

Setting the bottle aside, she pulled out her wand and tapped it against the typewriter, which instantly came to life and started typing on its own. " **Disaster at the Tri-Wizard Finale** , by Rita Skeeter." Rita began talking aloud as the typewriter began typing out her every word.

"Yes, it was indeed a disaster."

Spinning around, Rita back peddled away from the dark figure that'd somehow managed to get into her flat without her knowledge. Ripping her wand out of her pocket, Rita pointed it towards the black mass. "Who the bloody hell are you?!"

The figure's hand reached out slowly and turned on the lamb beside them, revealing none other than Lord Lucius Malfoy. "Lord Malfoy," Rita gulped, licking her lips and casting a quick glance towards her door. Lucius Malfoy had always been one of the few people whose very presence unnerved her. And after what she'd learned tonight, that feeling had increased tenfold.

"Madam Skeeter." Malfoy greeted her casually, rising from his chair with a noticeable wince. "Forgive me for calling on you at this hour. But I wanted to make sure that you had the right…facts, before you started working on tomorrow's paper."

"Th– there's nothing to forgive Lord Malfoy," Rita replied trying, and failing, to keep her voice steady while lowering her wand. She'd never been the best duelist. And against Lucius Malfoy she was sure she'd have as much of chance as a snowball against a dragon. "And I was just starting tomorrow's edition. I fear it will be relatively boring an-"

"There's no need for that. I've already finished your editorial for tomorrow." Malfoy said over her, reaching into his robes and pulling out a scroll. "I believe that you, and your readers, will find it most…enlightening."

Biting her lip, Rita slowly reached out and took the offered scroll. Unrolling it, Rita read over what was written, her eyes widening with each word. "This...Lord Malfoy I don't-" Her words died in her throat as a large stack of Pound notes were placed over the words she was reading.

"This is what you are planning on writing Madam Skeeter." Malfoy stated, letting go of the sack and making her scramble to juggle the sack and the scorl. "I don't see the need to play with you Skeeter. You know who I serve. You will not get a second chance with us. Oh, and if you're worried about the fact that you're an unregistered animagus, don't. One word with my contact in the DMLE and not only will you be on the registry, but you will have been on the registry since before you left Hogwarts. And it will remain confidential."

Rita bit her lip, looking back and forth between the stack of Pounds, to the scroll and then to Malfoy. Slowly, she let herself smile. _'I get paid handsomely. I get my revenge on that bitch Nox. And…well if recent history has taught me anything it's that it isn't really healthy to go against the Dark Lord.'_

"Thank you, Lord Malfoy for presenting me with the truth of what transpired tonight." Rita smirked, bowing slightly to Malfoy. "I'll be sure that this story is on the front page tomorrow morning."

* * *

Sitting in his bed in the hospital wing of Hogwarts, Harry glared down at the front page of the Daily Prophet through his glasses, which had been found and repaired between the time the skirmish had ended and his mother had sent him, still unconscious, and the other champions back through the portkey. On the front page of the paper was a photo of him and the other champions all lying in their respective hospital beds. Above the photo was the caption, ' _ **Tri-Wizard Champions Recuperating After Guardian Attack!'**_

"We thought you should see this as soon as you woke up Harry," Ginny said softly from her spot next to his bedside while all around him the rest of his friends and fellow Guardians at Hogwarts shifted their feet nervously surrounded by a silencing charm that Hermione had cast with the help of Susan. All save for Susan and Daphne that was. Susan looked like she was really too straight up murder someone, while Daphne had an almost eerie calm about her. "It's been the same story every day for the past four days ever since you and the others returned from the graveyard."

For not the first time, Harry cursed the fact that he had been unconscious for the past four days. He knew the moment he'd woken up what had happened. Force exhaustion. Or rather magical exhaustion according to Madam Pomfrey. He'd done before when he was younger, but he'd hadn't succumbed to Force exhaustion for years and even then never to the point where he'd been out for more than a day at a time. More likely because he not only countered the killing curse, but sent it back against a wizard who had decades of experience on him.

But the worst part was, because he'd been unconscious he hadn't been able to defend the Guardians' actions. And now after four days of constant slander, he doubted that there would be anything he could say that would change the opinions of the masses. The only upside, if there was one, was that his mother had not been explicitly named. Neither had Ahsoka nor any of the others. But they were now in the same trap that he was. And if his mother hadn't countered this immediately, there had to be a reason why she was still withholding that information. ' _Or maybe she'd tried to and was unable to do so. In which case…I think I'd prefer it if she was simply holding back information._

"Why?" He asked, looking around. There was no need for him to clarify his question.

"Honestly, we're not sure how or why, but Fudge has gone off the deep end. Not that it was a long fall." Susan growled, plopping down on his other side and picking up one of the many pieces of 'get well candies' that were littering the end table next to him. "When the four of you came back, the other three immediately spoke up about what happened."

"And just as a side note," Susan continued, "Master Fay is an excellent actress. Bloody hell, even I was convinced that she was about to singe Dumbledore's beard off. But anyway Cedric, Viktor and Fleur all told about how the four of you had been kidnaped by the Death Eaters. How they conducted a ritual to give Voldemort a body again. And then how the Guardians saved them. The Aurors that showed up with my Aunt after the battle was over told them what they saw. A shite load of dead purebloods…and that was all Fudge needed to hear. That and Voldemort somehow managed to come back after being supposedly dead for over a decade…so yeah. He didn't take it well."

"The next morning the front page was plastered with an article proclaiming how all of the Champions had been confounded by this new terrorist group, 'The Guardians', and how you were unconscious." Daphne picked up the explanation. "Fleur just about hit the roof when she read that. She immediately went up to the head table during breakfast and proceeded to give Dumbledore and Maxime quite an impressive earful."

Hermione took over story from there. "Viktor told me that within the next hour an official mind healer from the Ministry come to Hogwarts and examine the three of them with Fudge, Umbridge and Skeeter in tow. He didn't even do anything other than wave his wand over the three of them and confirm that they had been in fact confounded."

The paper in Harry's hands combusted in a flash of light, not even leaving a pile of ashes. "Skeeter?" _'How? Mother had the bitch on a short leash. Fudge, or rather Lucius, must have her on an even shorter one. Either that or they cut the leash and are paying her a hefty sum. Either way…she's going to rue the day she turned against us.'_

"Yeah…sorry mate. Don't ask us to explain that one." Ron murmured from his spot next to Tracey.

"Not your fault." Harry growled. "Might as well get this all over with now. What happened next? I assume that Viktor, Fleur and Cedric didn't take it lying down?"

"Correct." Daphne nodded. "Cedric has been writing his father daily, but seeing as how his father is a high ranking member of Fudge's cabinet I'm sure you realize just how far that is going. Both Viktor and Fleur have tried to get into contact with their home countries' Ministry, but they're either being stonewalled or told flat out to let the matter drop. They see this as a 'British problem' and they don't want anything to do with it."

"It will be everyone's problem soon enough." Harry muttered, letting his head fall back heavily against the headboard. "Has anyone been in contact with my mother?"

"Yes," Susan nodded. "She's trying to get anyone she can to listen, but unfortunately she's dealing with even more fires as of late."

"Apparently over half of the neutral voting block that your mother and Lord Black took years carving out have jumped ship." Tracey clarified. "Most of them have jumped back to the 'dark' families without giving any reason as to why. Odds are they've either been paid off, or someone has put the fear of…well…Him into them again. And a small minority are jumping ship to align themselves with Dumbledore."

Unable to help it, Harry sighed and rubbed his head with his hand. Years of political building and preparation almost completely undone in a matter of days. "And I take it that old baldy has been keeping his head down this entire time hasn't he?"

"Yes." Daphne nodded. "No matter what people might say of him, there is one thing that cannot be denied: he's smart and patient. Usually patient anyway. He's using Lucius right now, not that anyone can pin that fact on him. But according to my father, Lucius has been spending galleons like his vault sprung a leak. If he keeps this up, I'd be surprised if they have even a single knut to their name by the end of the school year."

"That's a small comfort." Harry mused. "Has anyone been keeping an eye on our two resident Death Eaters since the incident?"

"Yes." Hermione answer quickly, before continuing on at a much more sedate pace. "Well…one of them at least."

"One?"

"Karkaroff has fled." Hermione nodded. "He's was here the night you four returned, but Viktor said that the next morning he was simply gone. And there's been no explanation for his disappearance. The official story is that he's gone back to Durmstrang, but Viktor said it's a load of hogwash. He's fled and they have no clue where he is."

"And as for our lovely greaseball," Daphne continued. "He's still here. Although…it's complicated."

"How so?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well he's still being his lovely adorable self-loathing self," Susan shrugged. "But, according to Cedric after the three of them told the Minister about what happened that night and he went off the rails, Snape apparently displayed his dark mark to the Minister and stated that the only way it could've come back is if the Dark Lord had returned. Of course Fudge didn't buy it. Bloody idiot."

"That reminds me," Daphne muttered, reaching into the folds of her robes and giving Harry an orb like object that was roughly half a hand across in diameter. "This is a one-off runic enhanced portkey. Supposedly it can cut through wards. There's about twenty feet of string inside as well. If we're in trouble Master Nox says that we're supposed to use it to escape. And just in case even that doesn't work," pulling out another object, this time a small stick that was roughly six inches long. "This is an emergency transponder. Break it and a magical signal is sent to General Rex and he'll have a LAAT here within twenty minutes to extract us."

Nodding, Harry handed the stick and the orb back to Daphne. He'd make sure to take them back once he was dressed and had pockets to keep it in. "But one thing is bugging me. How are they covering up the thirty or more Death Eaters that died?"

Susan bit her lip and looked at Daphne. "They were said to have been trying to launch a rescue mission, although no one has been able to explain so far as to just how they knew you four were going to end up there nor as to how they got there so fast." Daphne growled. "And because of that…Fudge has issued a formal decree claiming that the Guardians are nothing more than muggleborn and dark creature terrorist's hell bent on destroying the traditions of the wizarding world."

"Fuck." Harry growled, surprising his urge to go and throttle Fudge. "And what is your Aunt doing about this Susan?"

"She's pretty much been yelling at the top of her lungs hoping that someone will listen to her." Susan sighed back. "Unfortunately, one of the Aurors that she brought with her, a man she's trusted, sold her out to Fudge and is now claiming that when they arrived the Guardians took one look at them and fled the scene after doing something to you four. It's an outright lie, but it was put in the paper before Auntie knew about his change of heart.

"She's been doing her best to get her department in order and provide evidence, but that got infinitely harder to do so when Fudge demanded that all of the bodies that'd been collected at the scene be released to their families along with any possessions they had on them. And any records Auntie had on just what they were wearing, specifically the bone masks of the Death Eaters, have disappeared; along with the masks themselves."

"Fucking damn it." Harry groaned. Things hadn't just gone pear shaped. They'd gone completely ass over tea kettle and in a remarkably short amount of time. "How the hell could he have pulled this off so quickly and while still reeling from getting his ass handed to him?"

None of his friends answered his question. And truth be told…Harry wasn't quite sure how to answer it either. And that, more than losing their political stance, more than losing their element of surprise, more so than having the Guardians labeled as a terrorist organization scared Harry.

* * *

Sitting in his private meditation chamber, Master Yoda, Grand Master of the fallen Jedi Order, sighed as he opened his eyes. When he'd first come to this world it had been as if the cloak of shadows had been removed from his eyes. For the first time in years he could see into the Force once again. The inherent darkness on this world made seeing through the Force slightly more difficult, but he could still see into the future. But now, ever since the attack and return of this…"Dark Lord" the dark side had once again shrouded his vision.

Master Nox and he talked long and frequently about the coming war. The shroud of the dark side didn't seem to surprise her, apparently it was quite a common tactic utilized by the Sith to cripple their Jedi counterparts. But what did surprise her was the sheer scope of the shroud. Apparently not even Darth Vitiate, the infamous Sith Emperor from her time, had been able to cast such a thing. Although she suspected that it was more from a lack of wanting to do it rather than not being able to.

And now, the dark side was once again clouding his sight. Rising to his feet, Yoda summoned his glimmer stick from across the room and began hobbling towards the exit. He was sure that Nox knew of these developments. But…her insight could prove useful. Perhaps she knew of a way to pierce through the shroud of the dark side.

* * *

Leaning against the door frame leading out to her balcony, Nox watched as the sun slowly lowered towards the ocean on the horizon. The past week had been…trying. The morning after the attack she nearly destroyed her office when she saw the front page of the Daily Prophet, specifically how it called out the Guardians as the abductors and the Death Eaters as the heroes who were trying to rescue the champions.

As soon as she read that she went on the offensive trying to regain any lost ground within the Wizenagmot. Unfortunately, that was another uphill battle as any political allies she'd had had simply up and left her side and rejoined with their old factions by lunch. Then the bad news just kept up piling up as that evening an evening edition of the Prophet was released. This time it held a detailed account of a mind healer that'd gone to Hogwarts and proclaimed that all of the champions had had their minds altered slightly and were confused as to what happened and then one of Amelia's Aurors that was part of the cleanup crew jumped ship and wove a story that painted them in an ill light.

By the next morning just about every pureblood family was calling for blood. And worse yet, there was nothing that Nox could do. ' _Once the masses get an idea in their head, true or false, it's easier to stop a tsunami with one's bare hands than to alter what they believe they know.'_

Hearing the door open behind her, she didn't bother turning around. "The corruption of this world is simply staggering. In some ways they're worse than even those puffed up so-called 'nobles' of Alderaan. And it's not just in the magical world but in the non-magical as well. And I knew that in order for this world to even stand a chance against what was out in the greater galaxy they would have to do so united. So all those years ago when I arranged for Sirius to re-introduce Harry and I to the magical community, which would be our stepping stone to truly correcting the corruption of this world, I was faced with two options."

Pushing off of the wall but still keeping her back to her audience, she raised her right hand. "On one hand I could do things the Sith way. I could've marched into the British Ministry of Magic with my lightsaber drawn and cut out the cancer where I saw it and taken control. But that would've opened the door to a possible rebellion in the future. So option two, thinking I had more than enough time before the Sith of this era would find me; I decided to take the indirect and less…violent approach."

Pausing in her speech, she turned around and found Yoda standing behind her. "For years I've spent cultivating not just Britain, but all of Earth to be united under one banner. And not just the differing countries of the world. But the magical and non-magical communities as well. And now in the span of less than a week, almost everything I've spent years building is hanging on by a thread. At least in the magical world."

"For what it's worth, the decision of less violence, correct choice it is." Yoda said, walking across the room, his glimmer stick landing softly against the floor as he did. "But give in to despair, you cannot."

Nox dropped her hand and scoffed, "Oh I haven't," Nox chuckled. "No…no. I have contingency plans inside of contingency plans my little friend. This is nothing more than a minor setback. An annoying setback to be sure, but this is not the end. Not by a long shot. I'm just marveling I guess."

"Marveling, you say?"

"Yes." Nox smirked. "You see, for as corrupt and tyrannical as you Jedi claimed that we Sith were, but the Republic you Jedi enslaved yourselves to was by far more corrupt. Filled with bootlickers, ass-kissers and cocksuckers that would do anything to get ahead while stepping over those they were supposed to 'serving'. With the Sith at least it was far more predictable. You wanted to go over someone, you simply killed them. Ah…sometimes I miss the good old days."

"Uncivilized, Master Kenobi would call them." Yoda responded, his eyes locked on the skyline.

Nox merely shrugged. "Perhaps. But no more so than any other political system. And at least with the Sith we were more straightforward about our intentions." Sighing, Nox turned around and headed back into her desk. "But that isn't why you came here today is it? You came here because you've sensed it. The darkness that'd been growing on this world has now reached the point where it's clouding your vision slightly isn't it?"

"Correct, you are. As usual, Master Nox."

"And you're wondering, given my background, if I know of a way to pierce through the shroud of the dark side." Nox mused. "Unfortunately there isn't. It's a double edged sword. Even for one well versed in the dark side the shroud will block their visions of the future. Which was why the Sith were always better tacticians than the Jedi. We couldn't rely on visions of the future to guide us. We had to guide ourselves. As such we had to plan every detail and have contingencies."

"Hmm, disturbing, this is." Yoda hummed.

"Not really." Nox shrugged. "Standard practice really."

"The shroud, disturbing it is yes." Yoda nodded. "But more so, how Sith techniques arrived on this world. Disturbing the implications are."

Nox paused. "I was not the first Sith to arrive on this world. And you lot were not the first Jedi either. Several thousand years ago Aedan, the Hero of Tython, came to this world hunting down the remnants of old Emperor Vitiate. It's not surprising that Vitiate left behind a few little tidbits and introduced them to the magical world. They probably ate it all up with a silver spoon."

"And this Emperor, vanquished him you did?"

"Yes." Nox replied, staring off at the sun. "The bastard is dead and gone. For good this time."

* * *

Walking through the halls of Hogwarts Luna Lovegood, apprentice to Knight Greengrass of the Guardian Order, stopped at one of the many overlooks and stared out over the castle grounds. For several weeks she'd been having a feeling that something big was about to happen, although what it was had been denied to her. For a time she'd been certain that what she'd been feeling had revolved around the impending confrontation between Harry and Voldemort. But it'd been nearly a week since that fateful night and the feelings had not subsided.

Sighing at the frustration swelling inside her, she resolved to go and find her master for an impromptu training session. Turning away from the window, Luna froze as a completely different image greeted her.

The halls of Hogwarts, which had once been pristine, were in ruins. The walls were collapsed and bodies littered the floor as the sounds of fighting reached her. Wheeling around, the halls of Hogwarts disappeared as she was standing in a muggle city at night. Muggles young and old were running through the streets screaming as shades flew overhead, swooping down everyone now and then to grab a screaming muggle before disappearing once more.

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Luna spun ready to defend herself, and found herself staring at a large hole in the ground. Surrounding her on all sides were black wisps watching the hole. Taking a step forward, Luna knelt at the edge. The coppery smell of blood assaulted her nose as she tried to look through the thick black vapor being extruded from the pit. Leaning closer, a pale hand shot out of the vapor and made to grab her.

Stumbling backwards she found herself in a field of grass. Before she had time to ponder; the world in front of her erupted into a wall of flames that consumed everything in its path.

Screaming as the flames washed over her, Luna found herself once again in the halls of Hogwarts. Darting her head around she pressed her back to the wall while she examined every inch of the hall before her trying to ascertain whether or not this was a vision. Once certain that the vision was over, she slid down the wall until her backside hit the floor.

Fisting her eyes, Luna tried in vain to stem the flow of tears falling from her eyes. She'd…she'd never had a vision like that before; a true vision of the future. She knew that she had the ability to see, her father had long ago confirmed that. But her ability at the moment was…limited. At best she could only see images around others that hinted at their future. Like the first time she saw Harry. She saw six wings with differing faces, one of them her own, circling around him. Then the faces hid themselves before one of the face's wings landed on his lap. Those were the types of visions that she'd had and that she'd been used too. But this…this was something far different.

 _'Hogwarts in ruins. Muggles being attacked by shadows. A pool of blood and black vapor. And a wall of flame. What…what does it all mean?'_

Pulling her knees up to her chest, Luna cried softly into her knees as she tried to understand just what she'd seen. None of it made sense. 'Damn that pathetic Trelawney and damn Dumbledore for letting that fraud teach!' She been looking forward to Divination since she'd been a child, hoping that the class would help her to control her visions. But any hopes she'd had were dashed within ten minutes of the first class.

While Luna knew that the woman had visions on occasion…but most of the time she was really pathetic. Just as her father had warned her. 'I need to talk with Daphne and the others. Something…something really bad is going to happen and soon. And what's worse…I don't have a damn clue just what "it" is!'

Before she could get up she heard a mocking voice that intruded on her thoughts. "Aww, what's the matter? Did poor little Loony Lovegood lose her dolly again? Maybe the wackaspirts took them again huh?"

Looking up from her knees, Luna stared blankly at the array of girls that'd managed to walk up on her while she'd been distracted. Cho Chang and a slew of her fellow Ravenclaws were standing in front of her, all of them smirking down at her. As her eyes fell upon each of them, Luna flinched as she saw different things. 'A skull. Blood. Pain. Madness. What…what does it all mean?'

"Hey, I asked you a question Loony Lovegood?" Cho sneered leaning forward slightly. "Or are you to simple minded to understand questions? How one such as you ever managed to con your way into the noble house of Ravenclaw is beyond me. You don't have a brain in that airy little head of yours now do you Loony?"

Luna stared up at Cho unflinchingly, which made Cho blink. "Leave me alone Cho." Luna said lowly.

One of Cho's delicate eyebrows rose. Luna had never really fought back against her classmates as it would've been a waste of energy and breath. They were all sheep anyway. Sure they might be smart, but they all lacked imagination. None of them would ever amount to anything. A fact that ruffled more than a few feathers when she'd loudly proclaimed that in the common room after a particularly nasty bout of teasing at the beginning of the year.

"Oh, I don't think so Loony." Cho shot back before looking over her shoulder at her friends. "What do you think girls?"

Cho's friends all grinned and started to form up around her. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Luna wasn't afraid. She could take them all down easily. Luckily though, she didn't have to as a voice came from behind them. "And what are you all doing?"

The girls all froze and turned around. Standing just behind them was Luna's Master Daphne. The fabled "Ice Queen of Slytherin" glared at each of the girls with her piercing blue eyes.

"This is none of your affair Greengrass." Cho tried to say evenly, but her voice wavered slightly as Daphne stared at her. "This is Ravenclaw business. Go slither back to your hole."

Daphne merely cocked an eyebrow at the girl before moving past them and holding out her hand to Luna. "Come Luna."

Luna took her hand and allowed Daphne to help her up. Once she was on her feet, Daphne turned on her heel and marched past the girls, leaving Luna struggling to catch up. Once they were well away from her tormentors, Daphne stopped and turned to Luna. "What happened Luna?"

Luna opened her mouth to speak, but the words died on her lips. Daphne's eyes were no longer blue. They were dark yellow and full of malice. But when she blinked again her eyes were back to their normal blue color. "Don't forget who you are Daphne." Luna blurted out.

That took Daphne back slightly as she took a step back. "What do you mean Luna?"

Luna stared at Daphne trying to get another read on Daphne, but nothing emerged. "I– I don't know." Luna said softly. "Something…something is going to happen Master. Don't lose yourself…and trust us. That is all I know."

Daphne's usually calm façade faltered slightly. "What did you see?"

"Pain." Luna answered, turning and looking back down the hall. "Pain and death."

* * *

Standing atop a lone hill just after the sun set below the horizon, Vlad Sanguine stared down at his intended target with five of his faithful followers with him. There was more to Voldemort's list than just this one spot, but for Vlad this was personal, but they would be handle by the rest of his faithful. This was a chance to do something he had been wanting to do for over a century. And now thanks to this new upstart of a "Dark Lord", he would finally be getting his chance.

Emerging from the darkness, the last of the faithful that he'd brought with him came towards him and knelt on the ground. "Master, it is exactly as Voldemort has said. We will face no opposition getting where we wish."

Smiling, Vlad stared down at his target. 'Well…it appears that this new Dark Lord is more than just words. First he managed to get my servants and I safe passage onto the mainland…and now this.' "Very well then. Let the feast begin."

* * *

Sitting upright in his bed, Dan turned the page in his book while in the background the small television he and Emma had in their room provided a light background noise. Beside him, his wife and love of his life slept soundly. It was more than a little early for the two of them to be in bed, but Emma had been complaining of not feeling well so she'd gone to bed really early and Dan decided to join her.

Turning another page in his book, his eyes flickered over towards their window as he heard rustling of the trees outside fairly violently as the wind knocked them around. ' _Hmm, the weather said that we're supposed to get a storm tonight. Perhaps they were right for once._ ' Reaching out to turn the page again, his hand froze mid move as the squeaky floorboard at the top of the stairs outside of their room groaned. Emma had been on him for months to actually fix the blasted thing, but now he was glad that he hadn't.

Eyes trained on the door leading out into the hall, Dan set his book down slowly and opened the top drawer his nightstand and pulled out a large black box and set it on his lap. Opening the lid slowly, Dan stared down at the pistol like weapon within. He'd been more than slightly surprised when Madam Nox had appeared on his doorstep a few weeks back with nothing more than a box and warning of potential danger. And ever since then he'd been more than a little edgy.

"Dan?" Emma groaned, "What are you-"

Emma was cut off as a deafening crash echoed throughout the house as the door to their room disappeared in a shower of splinters. Falling back onto his years of training, Dan raised the weapon to bear and put three red bolts right into the center of the black mass that'd been filling the void that'd once been their door. "Shite," Dan cursed, keeping his weapon trained on the door and sliding out of bed.

"Dan?" Emma called out weakly.

"Stay back," Dan said, keeping his eyes trained on the downed body just beyond the door.

As he reached the door frame, Dan checked up and down the hallway before stepping out to check on the body. The man on the ground looked ordinary enough, if just slightly paler than normal. His eyes were staring up at the ceiling blankly while the three holes in his chest gave off little wisps of smoke. Keeping the weapon pointed towards the stairs, he knelt down next to the man and felt at his wrist. His skin was surprisingly cold to the touch, but Dan couldn't pick up on any heartbeat.

"Holy shite." Dan cursed, rising to his feet staring down at the pistol in his hand. As soon as he'd realized what Nox had given him he'd discreetly contacted some of his fellow squad mates that were still attached to the service. Apparently, this particular weapon wasn't even available to the British armed services yet let alone the public. _'And now I can see why_.' Dan thought taking his eyes off of the corpse. "Grab the kit Emma. I'm going to check if ther-"

Dan felt himself flying arse over tea-kettle as he rolled down the stairs. He had just enough presence of mind to duck his head to avoid any damage to his head, but as he reached the ground floor his right arm cracked painfully as he landed, the blaster sliding away from him as he finally came to a stop.

Rolling over, he just barely managed to get his eyes to look up the stairs before a black cloak descended on him. An impossibly strong hand gripped his throat, and as if he were a child lifted him off the ground and slammed him against the wall. "Hmm, not bad mortal. It's been sometime since one you have managed to actually wound me."

Clawing at the hand against his throat with his left hand, his right arm hanging limply by his side, Dan's eyes widened as he recognized the man who was holding him. _'Impossible! He– he was dead I'm sure of it!_ ' That was when Dan noticed the red glint around the man's irises and the slightly elongated fangs peeking out from under his lips. ' _A fucking vampire! You've got to be fucking kidding me!'_

His back came away from the wall, only to slam against it again as the vampire shook him. "Hey! Pay attention mortal." The vampire growled. "How did you know that I was around? You were obviously awake and waiting for me even before I stepped on that blasted loose floorboard just outside your door. So tell me how-"

The vampire's eyes went cross-eyed and his grip loosened as Dan brought his knee up as hard as he could right between the man's legs. As soon as Dan's feet touched the floor, he threw a haymaker with his left hand aiming for the vampire's throat. His fist connected with the soft flesh of the creature's neck…but he might as well have been shooting a BB gun at a freight train for all the good it did him. The vampire merely stood there, bent over with one hand covering his bits, with Dan's fist pressed against his neck.

"That wasn't smart mortal."

Dan didn't even see the vampire move. All he felt was the back of the creature's hand hit him upside the head and next he knew he was flying across the room and crashing into the curio cabinet that had their fine dishes and silverware stored within. Before he could hit the ground he felt a fist grab hold of his night shirt and once again he was sailing through the house. This time landing on the cold kitchen tile and not stopping until he slid all the way across the kitchen and crashed into the stove on the far side.

Coughing up blood, Dan tried to push himself up on his good arm, only to receive a knee to the face throwing him back against the cabinets. What was left of his nightshirt was the grabbed by a fist, which moved him so that he was forced to sit upright against the cabinets. The vampire knelt down in front of him, his hand never leaving Dan's shirt.

"Now now mortal. I was going to make this quick and easy. Even after you ruined my favorite jacket with that damn weapon of yours. But now…now I'm not going to be merciful." Letting go of his shirt, the vampire grabbed a fist full of Dan's hair and forced his head back hard against the cabinets. "I'm not going to kill you. Not yet. First I'm going to break every bone in your legs and your arms. Then I'm going to make you watch as I break your pretty little wife and turn her into my own personal little thrall. How does that sound you pathetic little mortal?"

Dan reached up with his left hand and tried to pry the fist out of his hair. But the creature's grip was like iron. And all his struggling got him was a slight smirk from the vampire.

Both men blinked as the vampire lurched forward slightly. Looking down, both stared in confusion at the foot or so of solid wood that was sticking out the vampire's chest. Right where the heart was. "Get the fuck away from him monster!" Emma growled from behind the vampire, holding onto the half what Dan now recognize as he billiards cue, and using it to leverage the vampire away from him.

"Dan!" Emma cried, as the vampire fell back against the far wall. "Dan! Can you hear me? Are you alright?"

"A fucking billiards cue?" The vampire gasped, drawing both of their attention back to him as he slid down the wall and to the floor. "Un-fucking real. A fucking…billiards…cue…"

"Emma." Dan gasped, shaking his wife with his still good arm. "Emma!"

Giving herself a visible shake, Emma stared at him with wide eyes. "Dan…I…oh shite! Dan! Are you alright?"

Dan merely grunted. "I've been better." He groaned trying to lift his right arm. "Stairs broke my arm. And I'm pretty sure that that bastard broke a few other bones while he was throwing me around like a rag doll."

Emma nearly had tears in her eyes as she stared down in horror at his arm, which was bending off at an unnatural angle halfway down his forearm. "Oh god Dan. We need to get you to the hospital."

"No." Dan said, shaking his head. "We can't…go get the case hun."

Emma blinked in confusion for a moment before nodding. Ever since Hermione had returned home from her little "summer vacation", which she'd told them about although Dan was still pretty sure she'd withheld some information, they'd decided that just in case of emergency they should have a suitcase packed and ready to go at the drop of a hat. Within the case they had some clothes, critical paperwork and enough cash to last them for several months if they were cautious.

"Wait." Dan coughed as Emma reached the edge of the kitchen. "Grab the…gun. I dropped it near the stairs. And give me one of those knives on the floor there."

Emma's brow furrowed, but she still knelt down and picked up one of the knives that'd fallen out of the cabinet. After handing it to him, his wife gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before running for the stairs. _'Well_ ,' Dan thought, staring down at the knife in his hand and then the vampire leaning against the wall with a cue sticking through his heart. _'Let's hope that silver really does work on these things. And if not…well at least we know now that a wooden stake through the heart will.'_

After a tense minute or so, Dan heard his wife running down the stairs. When she rounded the corner into the kitchen his lips twitched as he saw how she was holding the pistol. 'I'm really going to have to teach her how to use that thing properly. Apparently sooner rather than later.'

Giving the gun to him, Emma set the case down and began rummaging inside. "Ah ha." She exclaimed, pulling out a foot long narrow rod that Nox had given them in conjunction with the pistol. Apparently it was some form of magical transportation. "Here's the little bugger."

Tucking the pistol into the waistband of his pants, Dan grabbed one end of the rod while his wife closed up their suitcase and grabbed the other end. "On three luv." He said, looking his wife in the eye. "One. Two. Three."

As one they twisted the rod in opposite directions. The next thing he felt was a strong pull on his navel and then the world was spinning.

* * *

Sitting on the couch in the living room of the Burrow, Bill Weasley was enjoying his moment of relaxation he'd been allowed in what seemed like months. A light fire from the fireplace provided the light in the room while he sat quietly flipping through a book on governmental procedure. Many would find his choice of book to be odd, especially when he was supposed to be relaxing. But compared to working with the goblins; reading about procedures that should've been shelved several centuries ago was entertainment in of itself. He always knew that the Ministry was, to put it frankly, arse backwards. But this book only proved it. Unfortunately with his father's reinstatement into the Wizengamot, a seat he would one day inherit as his right as eldest child, he had to read up on the policies.

Flipping the page in the book, Bill thought back on everything that'd happened in the past year. Gringotts had recalled him early in the fall without truly explaining the reason for it and had assigned him to be little more than a glorified bureaucrat. Sure he was still sent out on assignment every now and then, but nothing like he had been doing. To say the least, he'd been more than a little pissed off about the move, not that he would tell his superiors that of course. He was upset, not stupid.

His mother had of course been ecstatic. But she always felt that he was in a far too dangerous line of work. But when she requested that he live at home with his father and herself, it was all he could do not to laugh in her face. He was a grown man and had been out on his own for years. He was not about to live with his parents again. His coworkers would never let him live it down.

It wasn't until he'd been back in Britain for a month or so that he finally realized just why he'd been moved in the first place. In October his father had been formally recognized back into the Wizengamot. And as oldest son he was responsible for taking up the seat after his father left office. And the goblins, seeing as how they had a future member of the Wizengamot under their thumb for several years, had pulled him out of the field and stuck him in an office so that they could, without actually saying it, groom him into a Wizengamot member that they could work with.

It was actually an incredibly ingenious move on their part. They knew that Bill owed them, and he did. The Goblin Nation had spent a lot of time and effort on him. And if he didn't respond in kind when he ascended to office…then they would make his life a living hell.

Which was why he'd been spending so much time with his parents, even to the point where he was sleeping at the Burrow more frequently that at his own flat. His father was going over the interworking of the Wizengamot with him almost every day. Although truth be told, it was more like Bill was helping his father manage the cesspool of snakes that was the Wizengamot. He loved his father, he truly did, but sometimes Bill felt that his father was far too soft to deal with politics. Speak of the devil and he hears his voice Bill thought with a smile.

"Bill? I wasn't expecting you to still be here."

Turning his head ever so slightly, Bill found his father standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Didn't feel like heading back to my flat quite yet." Bill shrugged.

His father nodded before going over to the small cabinet in the room. Opening one of the lower doors, he pulled out a bottle of firewhiskey and two glasses. "Did you get a chance to read over that new proposal I have for Lord Black yet?" His father asked before pouring out two fingers into either glass and corking the bottle.

"Yeah," Bill nodded, more than a little surprised when his father handed him one of the glass. His mother had nearly raised all holy hell a few weeks prior when Bill had taken the two of them out for dinner in muggle London and ordered a pint with his meal. The only reason she hadn't was because they were in public. But still, in an effort to keep the peace he'd decided to drink as little as possible in front of his parents.

"Good," his father nodded, taking the seat across from him. "What do you think?"

Taking a small sip, Bill told his father the truth. "It's too one sided Dad." Bill answered, surprising his father. "I know that Lord Black and Madam Nox would say the same. The only reason your muggle-protection bill got passed was because it didn't really affect the purebloods all that much. But this bill, allowing muggleborns the chance to enter the Wizengamot? While an idea I support fully it will never be able to get passed. Simply based on the fact that you're threatening to limit the amount of power those in power already have."

And Madam Nox would know that as soon as she read it over as well. While many might believe that the Weasleys were beholden to Dumbledore, they were wrong. The Weasleys owed their allegiance to Nox and Black. It was because of them that they were once again able to sit on the Wizengamot. So for the next generation or two, anything they put forth would have to be in line with whatever Madam Nox and Lord Black interests lay.

Sighing, his father drained most of his glass. "I was afraid that you were going to say that son. I'm not really cut out for all of this political stuff son."

"You're the one that not only wanted us to get our seat back, but you're the one who actually managed to do so Dad." Bill reminded him.

"I know." His father nodded. "I just didn't think that it would be like this. All of this cloak and dagger shite. I'm no good at it." Draining the last of the whiskey in his glass, his father gave him a friendly grin. "So…how's this French bird of yours doing? She went through quite a lot this past week."

Bill couldn't help but smile and grimace at the thought of his half-Veela girlfriend. To say that his mother had ecstatic when she learned he was attending the Yule Ball would be understating things. To say that she was pleased with the fact that he was attending, and eventually dating, the half-Veela from France would be an overstatement. While not a purist by any stretch of the imagination, Molly Weasley was not necessarily the most open minded of individuals.

"She's…she's as well as can be expected after what she and the others went through and are going through. Needless to say, she's more than a little pissed off at the British government right now." Pausing, Bill swirled the contents of his glass around. "And I believe what she and the others are saying Dad. He's back."

Grimacing, his father looked down and into the fire. "I know…I do as well. No one would make such a claim unless it was true."

"And what about the other rumors?" Bill pressed. "The one's about Madam Nox being the secret leader of these 'Guardians'. Do you think that there's any truth to them?"

"I hope so," Arthur answered, surprising Bill. "Because if so…then we might just stand a better chance this time around."

Whatever answer Bill was expecting that was one he did not imagine his father would say, "Come again?"

"I said that I hope that she is leading the Guardians son." His father reiterated. "Dumbledore…he will always have my respect and admiration. He's the reason why…You-Know-Who held back so much last time. Even if some debate that he never did anything during the war, and I will admit that it is tough to actually see what he did, he was the one who truly held him back. But Nox…she's done more in the past few years to curb the darker pureblood families than anyone else has since…well ever.

"She's ruthless and incredibly clever. Fifteen years ago if you asked me who could hold back You-Know-Who my answer would've been Dumbledore. And that answer still hasn't changed. But now? If you ask me who could defeat him. Then my answer would be Nox without hesitation. And if she's leading these Guardians, then that means that she has the means to do so as well."

"And what of Ron and Ginny?" Bill asked. "If Nos is the leader of these Guardians, then it stands to reason that she's taught Harry everything as well. And if that's true, then as a pair of his friends I would suspect that he's in turn teaching Ron and Ginny whatever he knows as well."

"I hope so." His father stated, surprising Bill even further. "You don't remember the last war Bill, but I do. And there if there is one thing that I regretted more than anything, it is the fact that I wasn't able to do more last time around. If Nox, or rather Harry, is training Ron and Ginny, then they will be able to do something. Not to mention that having those two so close to Harry will be good for our family in the end. Especially if, or rather when, she wins control of the Ministry."

Bill had to look at his father with a newfound respect. "Merlin Dad. And here I thought you didn't care for all of the politics."

His father merely laughed. "There's a difference between not liking a game and not knowing how to play one. I may not care for politics and I might not be the best at it, but I do understand some things."

Shaking his head, Bill raised his glass to his lips, and froze. Standing the doorway, with one hand on her hip, was his mother. "Arthur." She said lowly. "What are you two drinking?"

"Molly," Arthur tried to say soothingly, which only garnered him a glare from his wife.

"Don't you 'Molly' me Arthur! And you young man, don't think that I don't recognize what it is that you're drinking! You might be of age, but in this house you will still-"

The glass fell from Bill's limp hand, shattering against the floor as he stared blankly towards the window. 'That…oh shite! That was the extra ward that I'd set up a few weeks ago!'

Pulling his wand out, Bill rushed past his ashen faced father and his confused mother towards the window. "Bill? Arthur?" Molly asked nervously looking back and forth between the two of them. "What's going on?"

Bill motioned for his mother to be silent while keeping his eyes focused on the night sky beyond the window. _'Nothing. Strange. I felt the ward fall and now there's no-'_ The window burst inwards as a dark shape crashed through and into him, it's momentum carrying the both them across the room before they toppled over the couch he'd been sitting on.

An impossibly strong hand clasped around his neck, cutting off his air as a pair of blood red eyes stared down at him. "Heh…time to die human."

 _"Bombarda!"_

The creature spun off of Bill, his hand leaving his throat as Bill desperately sucked in air. Rolling over, he stared at the creature which had shaken off the spell his father had used. "Heh. That tickled."

" _Novaculata funiculus! Radius solis!"_

Ropes shot forth from out of his wand, wrapping around the creature like they had mind of their own as the creature screamed and writhed in pain. A concentrated bright beam shot out from the end of his wand, arching through the air and impacting the creature in the head. The creature's screams of pain increased as the bright light ate away quickly at the flesh of the monster. For a second the trio were treated to the vision of a red covered skull before the creature exploded, leaving only his clothes and a pile of ash.

Coughing, Bill sat up enough to run the edge of his wand across the palm of his hand while muttering a cutting curse. Once his hand was full of blood, he pressed his hand against the floor and drew a small circle of blood before placing his hand in the center of the circle, palm down, his blood seeping into the floor boards. " _Sol sanguinem carcerem!"_

His blood glowed brightly, pulsing a few times before the last pulse exploded outwards. "There." Bill gasped breathlessly. "That…that should by us some time."

Both his parents were staring at him with wide eyes. "Bill!" His mother shouted, her eyes flickering back and forth from the pile of ash in the corner of the room and him. "Bill…what…that…that was blood magic!"

"And necessary." Bill murmured, conjuring up a bandage from air and wrapping it around his still bleeding hand. "A sun blood ward. It's the only thing that keep vampires out of an area. At least for a while."

Whatever color remained in his mother's face disappeared at the word. "V-vampires?" She muttered, turning her head to look at the pile. "What…why? I–"

"Dad." Bill said, cutting across his mother's confusion. "We need to get out of here. The ward pushed out the vampires that were in the house and is keeping them and a few others out. But I can feel them throwing themselves and their magic against it. It won't last for long."

His father, despite the shock etched across his face, nodded and headed over towards the fireplace. Bill wasn't necessarily surprised when nothing happened as his father grabbed a handful of Floo powder and threw it into the fire. "They've locked us out." His father said flatly before moving over to end table where he'd hid the liquor and pushed it aside. Tapping on the wall, his father dug his fingernails into the wood and removed a false panel from the wall.

"Arthur?" His mother blinked, staring at the black box his father removed from behind the panel.

"We can't take everything." His father said, turning and staring at him. "How much longer can you hold out son? Are there any more vampires in the house?"

Bill shuddered as he felt another vampire impact the barrier and turn to dust. That one had almost managed to get through…although if his suicide run was voluntary or not he wasn't sure. "No. And not long." Bill gasped. "A few minutes at most."

Nodding, Arthur opened the box and removed three items that confused Bill. One looked like some sort of muggle pistol only more…advanced than anything he'd ever seen before. The second was a portkey that looked like a sphere roughly the size of a bludger. And the third was a bottomless bag. "Molly," he said throwing the bag towards her. "Only grab what you can and fast. I'll start collecting things down here."

His mother held the bag. "Arthur-"

"Now Molly!" Arthur barked, startling his mother enough that she ran out of the room and up the stairs.

Watching his father move about the room and pulling off as many of the pictures as he could off the wall before shrinking them down and pocketing them. Coughing, Bill whipped at the corner of his lips. "Dad, if they've cut us off from the Floo odds are that they've also put up anti-portkey and anti-apparation wards."

"I know, it's the same tactics that they used in the last war." His father nodded with a seriousness that Bill wasn't used too. "But, remember that discussion that we just had about Madam Nox? Well, she sent me these just in case something went wrong."

Picking up the sphere, he held it out towards Bill. "This is one-time use portkey that's been enhanced with several runic arrays inside the sphere. According to her, it can pierce through an anti-portkey ward, but it will become useless afterwards."

"Arthur…what are those?"

Turning his head, Bill found his mother back in the doorway leading up the stairs, the bottomless bag his father had given her held securely in her hands. "Our way out." His father said flatly. "Come here Molly, we all need to be touching it after I activate the portkey."

His mother's eyes went wide as what his father had planned finally sunk in. "But– Arthur! We can't just leave! This is our home! The Aurors…Dumbledore will come!"

"It's too late mother." Bill coughed, wincing at the coppery taste filling the back of his mouth as he started approaching his limit. "The sun ward is about to fail. And once it does…the vampires that are outside will be all over us within seconds and then we'll either be dead or wish we were. And if help was going to come, it would've been here by now."

His mother still looked around with wide eyes. "But…I need to grab a few things…pictures and presents and…and we can't leave Arthur! This is our home."

"And it can be rebuilt Molly." Arthur responded, taking Bill's hand and placing it on the orb before motioning for Molly to do the same. "But our lives can't. Grab hold Molly, there's no sense in us dying here today."

Tears were forming at the corners of his mum's eyes. With one last sad look around the house, she reached out and placed her hand on the orb as well. Once all three of them were touching the orb, his father began touching the orb along several spots marked by the runic carvings etched on its surface. "Dad…" Bill coughed weakly. "Whatever you'r doing…it better be soon. The ward's about to fall."

"I just have to get the sequence right and there!" His father cried triumphantly as the runic lines began to pulse. "It should be going off any seco-" His father's words were cut off as Bill felt the tell-tale signs of a portkey activation. The moment he felt the tug he disconnected his magic from the ward, which he felt fall as he was pulled into the spiraling ether of the portkey.

* * *

Staring down at the dead corpse at his feet, Xenophilius Lovegood kicked at the leg of the vampire lying in the dirt just outside of his home. "Huh…I was expecting more of a challenge." He muttered before turning around and looking at what used to be his house.

The vampires had been smart about their attack, but unfortunately very predictable; which made them easy pickings, despite the fact that there had been six of them, for the former Head of the Unspeakables. He'd known ever since his daughter had signed on with Nox that one day he would be a target. Which was why he'd warded his house with every ward he knew, which was more than a few, and created some more…comical offensive measures meant to throw any attackers off.

Walking back to his house, Xenophilius cocked his head sideways as he noticed one vampire that was halfway imbedded into the wall of his house…sans his pants and underclothes. He didn't remember setting up that particular protection around the house. Luna must've gotten into the ward scheme and changed a few of the runic schemes. Again.

"Huh…well I guess the tales of vampires being well endowed are nothing more than that. Tales. It could make a good story though. Vampires gain small peckers in exchange for their powers. Maybe that's why they always kill those they seduce; can't live with the fact that they can't please their partners. 'Hmm…interesting angle. I'll have to run it Luna and see what she says.'

Walking into his house, he found two more vampires that had bitten each other's throats out after he'd hit them with a modified confundus charm that made the two think that each other were him. In the next room he found the only still alive vampire. The female may have been attractive to just about every red blooded male on the planet with her long blond hair, expansive…assets, that she wasn't afraid to flaunt and her striking red eyes. And Xeno could feel her exuding the vampire version of allure meant to ensnare their targets, but to him she was nothing more than an ugly monster.

"You may as well stop that." Xeno sighed, walking up to the woman who'd been pinned to the bookshelf behind her with a metal stake through each of her wrists, both of her ankles and one more through her abdomen. The stakes wouldn't kill her…but they definitely were hurting her based on the pained expression on her face. "I long ago developed a resistance to your kind."

The pressure disappeared as the woman began hyperventilating from the pain. But despite that, she still managed to throw him a saucy look and thrust her exposed cleavage out at him. "Be reasonable human…I'm sure that we can come to a…understanding. I promise you I've never disappointed any of my lovers. I can give you a night you will never forget…and I can tell you why we are here."

Cocking an eyebrow, Xeno shook his head. "I already know why you're here. Voldemort sent you. And I know why as well. He sent you here to kill me to try and weaken my daughter. And as for your second offer…well I'm going to have to pass. You see…the memory of my dear wife is so strong that I don't ever want to experience the pleasures of the flesh with anyone but her ever again." The vampire's eyes widened in dread as Xeno lifted his wand and pressed it between her massive…assets. "Now if you'll excuse me…but I need something that's behind this bookshelf."

The vampire managed to get off one blood curdling scream as his spell, a creation of his own designed specifically to kill vampires, reduced the once physically attractive woman to dust. "Such a pity." Xeno sighed, reaching out and pull down on a book, which made the bookshelf slide off to the side revealing a safe. "She was rather attractive…for a blood sucker that is."

Unlocking the safe, Xeno swung the door open to reveal its contents. A single photograph and a metal spherical portkey. Taking out the photograph, Xeno smiled as he looked down at it. His wife was sitting on the front porch smiling radiantly down at the newly born Luna in her arms. Tucking the photo into an inner pocket of his robes, he then pulled out there metal sphere that'd been given to him by Madam Nox.

Pressing down on the spots that were shown to him, the sphere separated into two halves. Twisting the top half until the patterns on the sphere were aligned correctly, he pressed the two halves back together. Pulling out his wand, he cast one final look around his house before sending a massive ball of fire into the floorboards. "Well," he murmured as he felt the portkey vibrate in warning. "At least now I get to figure out just how many planets my daughter visited last summer."

* * *

Cyrus Greengrass felt all of the air rush out of his lungs as his back slammed hard against the cold stone wall within his family's ancestral home before he fell to a pile on the floor. "Hmm…and you are the Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass? Pathetic. Your grandfather was ten times the wizard you are Cyrus."

Pushing himself up to his hands and knees, he turned his head to the side and spit out a wad of blood from his mouth before looking up and glaring at the ones who'd invaded his home. There were over a dozen of them standing before him while a dozen or so more ran around ransacking his home. But his eyes were focused solely on the withered face of the man leading the invaders and his wife Evelyn who was struggling to get out of the man's grip he had on her throat.

There'd been no warning. One moment he and Evelyn were enjoying a quiet meal together, and the next the wards were shattered. Not just brought down. But shattered and replaced with anti-apparation and anti-portkey wards. He and Evelyn didn't even have time to get out of the dining room before the windows had exploded inwards as dozens of the cloaked figures poured into their home.

The two of them had managed to take out a couple of the invaders and the house elves had even shown up to help. But then he showed up. The one man that Cyrus had only heard about in legends passed down from his grandfather. He sliced through the house elves without using a lick of magic as if they were nothing before starting in on Cyrus and Evelyn.

"Dread Lord Valad Sanguine." Cyrus coughed, barely managing to get to his feet, his wand held tightly in his hand.

The Dread Lord smiled toothily, his fangs on full display. "Ah, I see that you do know me then. Good. It's no fun killing for vengeance if your victim doesn't know why they're being killed."

Cyrus gritted his teeth. Sanguine and House Greengrass had a history. Sanguine was a Dread Vampire Lord, or a vampire that'd managed to live for over a thousand years. And he was one of the two that were known to exist. A hundred and fifty years ago when his grandfather had been a young man, he'd made it his mission to hunt Sanguine down. He'd failed to kill the Dread Lord. But he had managed to kill one of the Dread Lord's wives. Sanguine retaliated by trying to annihilate the Greengrass family, but attacking an Ancient and Noble family so brazenly had caused the wizarding world to get up off their fat arses and actually do something. And Sanguine and been banished and exiled to a small unplottable island far off the coast.

"So…playing a lackey to Voldemort now huh? Oh…how truly pathetic you've become." Cyrus spat.

Sanguine merely smiled. "I am no one's lackey Greengrass. Unlike the other Dread Lord, I don't give two shits about the wizarding world. All I care about is revenge."

"Cyrus…" Evelyn coughed. "Finish th-"

"Ah ah, my dear. None of that now." Sanguine tsk'd, shaking his wife and making Cyrus shake with rage. He wanted to curse the fool…but from this distance and with hi reflexes he knew that Sanguine would use his wife as a human shield should he try.

"Let her go Sanguine!" Cyrus yelled. "She has nothing to do with this! This is between you and me! And you already admitted that you don't care about Voldemort…so let her go. And let the two of us finish this."

Sanguine tilted his head to the side and looked at his wife. "You know Greengrass…you're right. She means nothing."

Cyrus's heart leapt up into his throat as he saw the muscles in Sanguine's arm twitch almost in slow motion. Evelyn's body jerked once before going limp as a resounding crack echoed throughout the house. "There," Sanguine smirked, tossing his wife's body towards him. "Now she's free to go."

Cyrus fell to his knees before the body of his love as tears of anguish fell freely from his eyes. "Evelyn…" He moaned, leaning over her body as the vampire horde around him laughed as if it were a great joke. "I'm so sorry my love…we won't be apart for long."

"What's wrong Cyrus?" Sanguine laughed triumphantly. "Hurts doesn't it? You humans are all so weak. Letting yourselves be controlled by such a pitiful emotion like love."

"Isn't that why you're doing this?" Cyrus growled, closing his wife's once vibrant eyes with a shaking hand. "Revenge for my grandfather killing your queen?"

Sanguine forehead twitched before he started laughing even harder. "You must be joking Greengrass. You think that this revenge is built out of grief of a lost love? Don't get me wrong, my queen was an interesting woman, but with a snap of my fingers I can have a dozen like her kneeling at my feet. No. This vengeance is purely based on the fact that your grandfather made my reign look weak;' something that I cannot allow.

"But don't worry…I don't plan on killing your daughters. No, I have far greater plans in store for those two. I'm going to turn them into my thralls…and one day I'll set the two of them on each other. And the one who survives will have the honor of being my new queen. Until I grow bored of her after a century or two of course and decide to take a new bride."

Hearing the fate Sanguine had in store for his daughters broke something in Cyrus even more so than watching his wife being murdered in front of him. He felt nothing. No anger. No anguish. No fear. Nothing. Raising his right hand to his lips, he began whispering into the ancient ring. "I hereby pass the title of Matriarch of House Greengrass to my daughter and first born Daphne Greengrass. All of House Greengrass's possessions are hers. With this one last message to be given to her…Vlad Sanguine. On my magic…so mote it be."

The ring vanished from his hand. Throughout the manor the various vampires that were ransacking centuries of heirlooms gave off cries of surprise as the items they were handling disappeared from their hands. "Hmm, impressive Greengrass." Sanguine laughed, but despite his light tone Cyrus could see the beginnings of confusion in his eyes. "But what do you hope to gain from this?"

Taking his wife's wand into his left hand, Cyrus pressed the tip of his wand against his wife's chest. " _Incendio maxima."_

His wife's body incinerated in less than a second, leaving only a pile of ash on the ground. He would not allow these beasts to desecrate the love of his life any more than they'd already had. "Sanguine…do me this one favor." Cyrus said while slowly rising to his feet, his wand in his right hand while his wife's was in his left. "When my daughter comes and kills you…and make no mistake about it she will be coming for you. Think of this moment. And despair. For had you chosen to remain neutral…you might've actually lived through the reckoning that is about to fall upon the wizarding world."

Sanguine smirked. "When your daughter comes…if she comes. I look forward to ramming those words down her throat Greengrass. Kill him!"

Holding both wands up, Cyrus closed his eyes before using weak cutting curse to open the veins across both of his wrists. _'Daphne…Astoria…stay safe my girls._ ' " _Sanguine flammas gehennae!"_

Fire erupted up from underneath his feet as it engulfed the entirety of his family's ancestral home and everything else on his family's land. The protection around him held on long enough for him to watch dozens of the bloodsuckers were consumed by the blood flames. He caught of brief glimpse of Vlad screaming in agony before turning into dust and disappearing, fleeing like the coward that he was. His protective sphere cracked under the intense flames as he watched the vampires who weren't able to flee be consumed. _'Evelyn…I'm coming.'_

* * *

Sitting in her office in her family's manor, Amelia Bones stared down at the small vial in her hand. She wasn't quite sure what to feel to be honest. She'd honestly never thought that she'd be in this position that she now found herself in. 'And at the worst possible time as well.' She cursed throwing the vial into the fireplace across the room.

The war had started once again. And those fools in the Wizengamot were perfectly content with putting their heads in the sand on the matter. And a good number were more than likely on Voldemort's side. Even Dumbledore, during the emergency session that'd been called, had been tentative about confirming the rumors.

Sure he advised caution, but nothing beyond that. And then there was the fact Fudge had not only turned a few of her own department against her, men and women she thought that she could've trusted with her life, but he'd also started a smear campaign against her on how she was just trying to rile up the public. It was idiotic!

 _'And now…now this. On top of everything…I now have to deal with "this".'_

The fire in the fireplace turned green and expanded outwards as her long-term lover, Sirius Black, stepped out from the flames. "Hey luv," Sirius said casually dusting the soot off of his jacket. "Bit late for both of us isn't it?"

"Yes, but I needed someone to talk to." Amelia admitted, turning her head away as she didn't think she had the strength to look at him.

"You know you don't need to feel embarrassed about asking me over luv. This has been a trying week for all of us." Sirius muttered, walking over to her stash of firewhiskey and pouring himself a drink. "Fudge is making our lives a living hell. I swear, if I didn't know for a fact that the man was too much of a coward I would think he's a member of the dark wanker's clan of personal arse lickers."

It was a thought that had crossed Amelia's mind more than once this past week. But Sirius was right. Fudge would more than likely piss himself silly if he ever came across a Death Eater. Which was ironic considering his biggest financial supporter was Lucius, a known Death Eater.

"It's all Lucius and we both know that Sirius." Amelia sighed while pulling out a parchment that had the Gringotts official logo sprawled across the top. "I checked with Gringotts. It's amazing what a little good will with the goblins will get you. Not to mention what a search warrant that I signed will get you as well. While I don't have the actual numbers, it appears that the Malfoy vault have decreased rapidly this past week. Almost by two-thirds of all assets."

"Sweet Merlin's balls." Sirius groaned, dropping into the seat across from her and offering her a glass, which she declined. "The Malfoy vault was one of the largest ones the British Isles. If Lucius has dropped nearly two-thirds of it in a week it's no wonder I couldn't bribe anyone this week. And it's no wonder that the goblins were willing to give that information to you. He more than likely pissed them off something fierce pulling out that much money."

"More than likely." Amelia nodded, looking off into the distance past Sirius.

"But politics isn't what you called me over for is it luv?" Sirius asked, drawing her up short as he set his glass down. "You've been out of sorts for the past couple of week's luv. Do you want to talk about it? James always said I was more than a bit of dunderhead. So if I did something wrong, let me know so I can fix whatever I've done. Or if someone else has pissed you off, let me know so I can go and cave their heads in. Or at the very least give them a permanent case indigestion."

Amelia nearly groaned. 'Damn it all…how can this scoundrel read me so well when no one else can?' "You're right Sirius…I have been out of sorts as of late. And there's a good reason for it." Pausing, she took a deep breath. _'Come on Amelia…just like a bandage. Rip it off at once and it'll be easier.'_ "Sirius…I-"

Amelia felt her heart stop as the wards around her family's home shattered. "The wards are down!" She shouted, pulling out her wand and touching a crystal on her desk, which sent a signal out of her house elf Bonesy. The signal served several purposes. The first and foremost was to tell Bonesy to flee from the house with whatever she could carry, primarily the Bones family grimoire. The second aspect of the signal served to activate the wards she'd placed around her office which turned the small section of the house into a fortress.

Drawing his own wand, Sirius ran over to the fireplace and threw in a handful of Floo powder. Neither of them were really surprised when nothing happened. "Shite." Sirius cursed as his body twitched while Amelia went about her office in an organized hurry to gather whatever important documents she could get her hands on. The rest she would destroy. "Just like in the last war…set up anti-portkey and anti-apparation wards and cut off the Floo system. Shite…I had really hoped that we were past all of this when we cleaned out the Floo department after the war."

"Apparently we didn't do a good enough of a job." Amelia cursed as she opened the small safe behind one of the picture frame in her office and begun to empty its contents. "We can worry about that latter though. I have the portkey from Nox. Let's get out of here."

"Hang on," Sirius muttered, going over to the window overlooking her family's estate just as a figure in black rammed into the window and bounced off. "Son of a tied down…these aren't Voldemort's flunkies we're dealing with. They're vampires!"

"Damn it." Amelia cursed as she watched at least two dozen vampires start to pour into the main entrance of her family home, only for them to be cut down as the defensive wards within the house activated. "He really has gone off the deep end this time. It took ages to get the bloodsuckers off the isles last time. What the fuck is he hoping to gain with this?"

"Just what he's getting, chaos." Sirius replied seriously as something heavy slammed against the door leading to her office. "But we can dwell on that later. Let's get out of here."

"Do you need to contact Kreacher?" Amelia asked as she pulled out the orb and began activating the runes in the sequence she'd been shown. _'The Unspeakables would probably give up an arm to have this device. A runic enhanced one-off portkey that can cut through wards…it's simply incredible.'_

"No need." Sirius said shaking his head. "I can already tell that the little bugger has collapsed the wards around Grimmauld Place. We had a plan in place that should the house be breached that he was to take whatever he could including the portkey and get out of there. Of course I'm sure that he stayed long enough to deal some damage and…and- Is possible to actually feel sympathy for a bloodsucker?"

"Probably just indigestion," Amelia shrugged as the pounding on her door intensified and the orb began to glow. "It's set. Let's get out of here."

The moment Sirius laid his hand on the orb, Amelia felt it activate with a lurch and then the world was spinning. When it stopped, Amelia and Sirius were standing side by side in the entrance hall of the Guardian Temple. And they weren't alone. All around them were the family members of the children that'd become Guardians or were Guardians in training.

The Grangers were off to one side, Dan lying on his back and looking like he'd been hit with several dozen bludgers at once as the newly arrived Master Fay knelt over him examining his wounds. Three of the Weasleys: Arthur, Molly and their eldest son William, were all huddled close to one another staring in opened mouth shock. Master Kenobi was crouched down next to Richard Davis who had a nasty looking cut along the side of his head and his arm was bending at an unnatural angle.

Maximillian and Anna Abbott were both running back and forth, alternating between helping Master Fay and Master Kenobi. Xenophilius Lovegood was following Master Secura around like a lost puppy as he tried to pepper her with questions. Andromeda and Ted Tonks were both here as well doing what they could to help. But as she looked around, she noticed that one family was missing.

Walking up to where Master Secura was attempting to ignore Xenophilius, she cleared her throat. "Where are Cyrus and Evelyn Greengrass?"

"They didn't make it."

Turning on her heel, Amelia found herself face to face with Nox. Whatever retort or question she had died in her throat as she saw the Grand Master though. She'd seen Nox angry before…well at least she thought she'd seen her angry before. But now...the very air around her was freezing. As if she were a dementor incarnate. And her vibrant green eyes were tinted yellow ever so slightly. Beside her stood Nymphadora and Yoda, both of whom were giving the woman a fairly wide breath.

"Rex just reported in." Nox continued, stepping around her and facing the others. "The Greengrass family manor is gone. There's just a smoking hole in the ground nearly a quarter mile in diameter."

No one spoke at the news. There was nothing to say. "What are we going to do now?" Amelia finally asked as everyone else stayed silent.

If Amelia ever thought that Nox was frightening before…when she turned around to look at her Amelia could've sworn that she was looking into the eyes of death herself.

"Voldemort made a fatal mistake today. He declared war on us. So we're going to educate him about what it means to go to war against the Guardians."

* * *

Harry sat uneasily in his seat in the Great Hall while all around him students laughed and joked with one another. Dumbledore had decided, seeing as how it was the last day that the foreign students would be with them, to belay the curfew for the night and invited all the students into the Hall for a late night celebration and feast to celebrate.

It'd been two days since he'd been discharged from the hospital wing and there were only two weeks left until the end of school and his return to the Temple. The judges had declared him the winner of the Tri-Wizard Tournament despite the absence of Karkaroff. Everyone had applauded him, the Gryffindors most of all. His fellow champions all gave him a knowing nod of acceptance as well.

Harry didn't care for any of accolades he'd gained nor the trophy nor the gold. His only concern was the fact that he'd failed to stop Voldemort and his flunkies from escaping the graveyard that night. He'd put the trophy in the room of requirement after discovering no less than a dozen or so tracking charms on the blasted thing.

Most of which he couldn't remove nor did he care to do so. The money they'd given him he'd promptly turned around and handed off to the twins after getting them to promise that they would work with Nox Industries for a term of no less than five years, at full pay, before heading off to make their own shop.

Taking a slow bite of his food, Harry scanned the hall and all of the students packed within. The other schools were still in attendance as well and would be until the end of the year. Which, while entertaining to a point, made meal times mildly awkward as the hall was constantly shifting in size to accommodate the increase in students within.

Looking towards Fleur, he found the French beauty cutting almost savagely into her food. Despite being the most outspoken of the champions about what had happened; she'd also been the most openly rejected. The British Ministry kept denying her claims to the point of threatening her. And her own Ministry kept denying her claims as well; saying that it was a British problem and that she should just ignore it.

"Harry…are you feeling this as well?"

Turning his head slightly to look at Ginny he nodded. It wasn't like the full on assault that he'd suffered through when the Jedi Purge had begun. This time…this time it was like a soft insistent knocking coming from the Force in the back of his mind. It wasn't painful it was more just…annoying than anything else. But still, Harry couldn't shake the thought that something bad was going to happen. Or already had happened.

"Yes." Harry nodded, staring down the length of the table. Hermione was sitting across from him, her head lowered slightly as a frown adorning her face. Ron was sitting next to her and while he seemed normal, well normal for Ron, shoveling everything in sight into his mouth, Harry could see something just beyond his friend's eyes that told him that Ron was sensing it as well.

The tapping on the back of his mind ramped up slightly into full out knocking as he winced. Reaching into his robes, he pulled out the emergency transponder stick and handed it off to Ginny. "Something's going to happen…soon." Harry said quietly. "And when it happens activate the transponder."

Taking the stick from him, Ginny nodded and clutched it tightly in her hand. Her face set in determination.

It wasn't a full minute later that Harry's prediction of trouble came true as a loud scream cut through the low chatter of the great hall. "No!"

Every eye in the hall turned immediately towards the commotion. Harry shot to his feet as he saw that Daphne had not just yelled, but she'd jumped back away from the Slytherin table almost to the point where her back was pressed up against the wall. Her face was completely ashen as she stared down in horror at her right hand. Even from nearly halfway across the hall, Harry could see the large ornate ring that now adorned the ring finger of her right hand. _'A Family ring? But that…oh shit.'_

The entire hall was shocked into silence. That was at least until a haughty voice spoke up from the Slytherin table. "Ha. The fate of all blood traitors. Surely you saw this coming…traitor."

The air in the hall shifted as everyone gasped at Draco Malfoy, who was staring at Daphne with a knowing smirk. Harry didn't need the Force to tell him what was going to happen next. Daphne's horror and grief stricken face morphed into one of pure fury. Her eyes shifted from their cold blue to a burning yellow in the blink of an eye as she snapped both arms down to her sides. Drawing out both her saberstaff and her wand.

With a scream, Daphne shattered the Slytherin table, sending its occupants scrambling to get away as she ignited one of the emitters on her saberstaff and advanced on a suddenly scared shitless Draco. Harry's feet were moving even before he registered as he lunged out of his seat and up onto the Hufflepuff table as he ran towards Daphne.

"Fuck you! You little shite!" Daphne screamed as she brought her saberstaff down on a path to cleave the Malfoy heir clean in half.

When the blade was but a hairsbreadth from Draco, Daphne pulled her strike and brought her saberstaff back up to deflect a red spell away from her. The professors all scattered as Snape dove off to the side as his own spell nearly hit him dead center in the head.

The distraction was costly, however as Draco managed to crawl his way away from the enraged Daphne while no less than eight of the upper years of the Slytherin house had their wands out and were surrounding Daphne. Leaping off of the table, Harry lashed out with the Force knocking four of the Slytherins away and into the far wall before landing between Daphne and the rest.

Snapping his hands out, Harry smirked as he felt the cool metal of his lightsaber slide into his right hand with his wand slid into his left. Activating his lightsaber, Harry faced off against four Slytherin members. One of the oldest, Harry couldn't remember his name, snarled as he raised his wand. "Die Potter! Avada Ked-"

There was no thought to Harry's action, he simply reacted. With a slight twitch of his wand the elder boy was sent stumbling towards Harry…and before he could right himself the boy gasped as he found himself impaled on Harry's lightsaber.

Pulling his blade out of his former classmate, Harry faced off against the others, two of whom had dropped their wands after the sudden death of their apparent leader. "Move Harry!" A low almost double toned voice came from behind him. "I'm going to kill of these fuckers!"

Pivoting, Harry faced off against Daphne. Her face was contorted into a mixture of agony and anger. Her eyes completely yellow as her anger took over her actions. "I'm sorry Daphne," Harry whispered, deactivating his lightsaber stepping up to her faster than the eye could follow before touching her with a single finger to the middle of her forehead. "But I know that you'd hate yourself forever if I let you go down this path. Rest now."

Daphne's eyes rolled up into the back of her head as her saberstaff deactivated and her body went limp. Catching her with his left arm, Harry activated his lightsaber again and turned just in time to deflect another disarming charm, courtesy of Snape, into a nearby Slytherin that still had his wand drawn.

Tightening his hold on her, Harry scooped her up bridal style and leapt up off the floor and landed in the dead center of the great hall. Tracey, who'd gathered up Daphne's saberstaff and her wand, landed right next to him only a heartbeat behind him with Astoria right after them. The moment the four of them were in the center of the hall, Susan and the apprentices all flew from their seats and formed a protective ring around them with Susan and Ginny drawing their lightsabers and their the rest drawing their wands.

"Enough!"

Harry, his arm still wrapped around Daphne, turned his head towards the front of the great hall. Most of the professors were still getting to their feet, but two were already up. Snape and Dumbledore. Snape looked positively furious as his eyes glanced back and forth between Harry and the dead Slytherin on the floor. And Dumbledore…the old Headmaster just looked sad. "Harry my boy," his voice was light, but it carried easily throughout the hall as he stepped around the table and took a step down from the dais. "What have you done?"

Susan and Ginny both activated their lightsabers, green and red shone brightly as the two redheads stood shoulder to shoulder between the old Headmaster and everyone else. "I have done what needed to be done Headmaster." Harry spoke, his voice carrying easily across the hall. "That fool was about to cast the killing curse at point blank range at either myself or Daphne."

"And that gave you the right to attack him Harry? To kill him?" Dumbledore took a step off the dais, but then stopped as both Ginny and Susan shifted their stances ever so slightly. Behind him, the other teachers had drawn their wands, but only Snape looked sure about his actions. The other's just held wands loosely and pointed towards the floor.

"Yes." Harry answered simply. "He choose the path of death and violence the moment he tried to kill me. I simply responded in kind. After all, if you are willing to kill you must be prepared to die."

The old man's eyes actually started glistening with tears. "Oh my poor boy. What has that woman done to you? To all of you? Would you all so easily throw away the path of light?"

"Tell that to the blonde ferret that pissed his pants over there! Or the lard arse that was ready to kill us!" Tracey yelled from beside Harry. "The Greengrass Family ring just appeared on Daphne's hand. Everyone here should know what that means! And that little shit knew about it! If you should be concerned about anyone it should be these junior Death Eaters in Slytherin house, or your pet Death Eater that's masquerading around like a teacher!"

Many in the hall started whispering while throwing fearful looks at both Snape and the Slytherins. "But as for what my mother has done Headmaster, she has simply done nothing that I didn't ask her to do. She has given me what I needed to destroy evil." Pausing, Harry reached up and took off his glasses and let them fall to the floor. The entire hall gasped as his black and green eyes stared around the hall. "There is no good without evil. But evil must not be allowed to flourish Headmaster. We are the Guardians. The defenders of the balance. We will walk in the shadows so others might know the warmth of the light."

Many in the hall were whispering to each other now, but Dumbledore merely stood stock still, his face completely devoid of color as he stared at Harry's eyes. "Merlin my boy…what did that woman do to you? And do you think that you're parents would've approved of this route? Killing indiscriminately?"

"We don't kill indiscriminately Headmaster. But we're not afraid to kill our enemies either." Pausing again, he turned his head to Ginny who gave him a curt nod. "The war has started Headmaster. You know it be true. The four of us have been trying to tell everyone for a whole week that Voldemort is back. But none have listened to our warnings. And now…now it is too late. And Voldemort has drawn first blood. Blood that will be repaid in full."

Behind him, he heard Astoria sniff loudly as Hermione put a hand around her shoulder. "The war has started again." Harry continued on loudly, addressing everyone in the hall. "And this time, the Guardians will be at the forefront to stand against the Death Eaters. Those of you who wish to fight with us are more than welcome to do so. Those who do not wish to fight; I advise that you get out of our way. But know this, bare the Dark Mark or side with them will one day find yourself at the end of our blades. And we will show you no mercy."

Motioning with his hand, the group began a slow retreat back towards the exit, no more than a few steps at time. "Harry." Dumbledore called out, his voice no longer filled with sorrow. "You must know that I cannot allow you to continue down this path. Violence begets violence Harry. I've lived through and brought down two dark lords. I will not allow you to become a thi-"

"Any who wish to join us now, may do so." Harry called out, cutting Dumbledore off. "You have until we reach the courtyard to decide whether or not you will fight by our side or not."

No one moved. Then one figure stood up from her seat and swung her legs over the bench. "Fleur?" Madam Maxime called out hesitantly as Fleur marched down the aisle with her head held high.

She spared Harry a single nod of approval before stepping past Susan and Ginny and fell in line with the others. Wand drawn and at the ready. Viktor was the next to stand. One of his fellow school mates tried to grab his arm, but Krum simply planted his fist into the side of his schoolmates head and walked over to join Harry and the others. Next, the Weasley twins both rose to their feet and fell in line.

"We can't let our little brother and sister hog all the Death Wankers for themselves." George said pulling his wand.

"Too right George," Fred nodded, for once not playing their name game. "Besides, we have a debt to pay to both Harry and Madam Nox. May as well start on it now. Besides…I feel we've outgrown our education here."

"I concur Fred." George nodded.

The next person to rise to their feet drew more than a few whispers as he walked towards the group. "Don't suppose you have room for me to tag along with you Harry? Susan?" Cedric asked looking back and forth between the two.

If not for the seriousness of the situation, Harry would've laughed at the way the back of Susan's neck and the tip of her ears turned red. "We'll be happy to have you Cedric."

Cedric nodded and after sparing a quick glance at Susan fell into line with the rest of them. Those were the only five who stood up. Harry was mildly disappointed, but he pushed that down. 'Most of them are kids…and besides. I don't think we'd be able to get them all out if too many joined up right now.'

"For those of you who are muggleborn or have muggle parents, I highly suggest you get out of the country." Harry announced as they continued to edge back into the door frame of the doors leading out of the Great Hall. "Voldemort and his flunkies are cowards and will go after your families. So get out while you still can."

Dumbledore kept following them as they back tracked out of the Great Hall and into the courtyard. All of the professors were followed behind Dumbledore was he kept a good distance between them. Once they were fully out and into the courtyard, the Great Hall was pretty much empty as every student and professor followed after them. "An impassioned speech Harry, but I'm afraid that it is over." Dumbledore sighed. "You cannot apparate nor portkey out of Hogwarts my boy. Now please, lower your weapons I implore you all. It's not too late to turn your backs on this path."

Harry didn't say anything, he merely looked each professor in the eye. Snape looked furious. McGonagall was a mixture of sadness and pride. Pomfrey looked worried. Moody was staring at them…appraisingly. And Harry couldn't help but notice that the hardened Auror hadn't drawn his wand like the others. Flitwick was also staring at them with a mixture of pride and sadness.

"Of course we can't." Harry smirked, winking at the old man. "We know that. We planned for it. You see Headmaster…you're powerful and wise. And as much as you've pissed both my mother and myself off, we don't want you as our enemy. But there is one thing that you lack Headmaster…imagination. And an extensive lack of knowledge concerning the muggle world and technology."

A loud humming came from overhead as two sets of search lights cut through the darkness, momentarily blinding the students and professors. All of the students and teachers gasped, either in fear or amazement, as two LAATs descended before stopping just short of landing on the ground. The side doors opened as a squad of troopers led by General Rex and Commander Gregor poured out of the transports and took up defensive positions around Harry and the others causing all of the students to take a step back and the professors to raise their wands. Even Moody had drawn his wand, although he kept it pointed towards the ground as he watched the soldiers form up.

Despite the threat from the professors however, the soldiers however had been well trained and none of them aimed their weapons. Instead they just stood there, creating a protective human wall between the young Guardians and everyone else. "Master Potter." General Rex greeted him, his blaster pistol in his hand. "We received your signal sir."

Nodding, Harry kept his eyes forward and shifted Daphne towards the veteran clone commander. "You certainly made good time General. Please take Knight Greengrass and lay her down inside."

"Yes sir." Rex saluted before taking Daphne from him and carrying her over to the nearest LAAT.

One at a time the younger Guardians, the Champions, the twins and the soldiers began piling into the two LAATs until only Harry was left standing just outside of the LAAT. "I would highly recommend that you adjust the wards to match with the times Headmaster." Harry shouted over the whining of the engines as he stepped up into the LAAT.

"Harry!" Dumbledore called. "It's not too late to find redemption! Turn away from this path."

Pausing, Harry kept one foot up on the LAAT's interior while he held onto one of the handles. "You're a man of peace Dumbledore, and I can respect that at times." Harry shouted back. "But I choose not to let evil flourish while I sit safely behind an ancient castle's wards plotting how to use the next generation like pieces on a chessboard."

Hoisting himself up fully into the LAAT, Harry watched as the crowd back away as the LAATs began lifting off as the doors shut. "Winky." Harry called out once they were airborne.

A small pop later and the Guardians' house elf was staring up at him with her big eyes. "Master Harry! Mistress Nox says you bess coming homes soon!"

"Sooner than I'd planned." Harry murmured. "I need a favor Winky."

Winky nodded so hard her ears started flopping back and forth. "Anything for Master Harry!"

"We had to leave in a bit of a hurry and we didn't have time to grab our things." Harry said, reaching up and grabbing hold of the overhead netting as the LAAT rocked back and forth slightly. "There a few sensitive items in our possessions. I need you to go and collect them before Dumbledore or anyone else gets to them. Can you do that for me?"

Winky nodded. "Of course Master Harry! Winky knows the house elves of Hogwarts, they be nice to Winky! Winky go collect Master Harry's things and his friends things!"

"And Cedric Diggory's, Viktor Krum's, Fleur Delacour's and the Weasley twins things as well Winky." Harry added. "If it's not too much trouble to get them of course."

"No trouble Master Harry!" Winky smiled toothily before snapping her fingers and disappearing.

Once she was gone, Harry stared forward out of the forward window. _'So it begins.'_

* * *

 **A/N: And we have officially gone off the rails of the HP Cannon Verse. It's been a long time coming…but pretty much from here on out forget everything about the HP Cannon Verse, cause I will only be taking a few things from it from here on out. Which means, sorry everyone but no confrontation between Harry and Prof. Umbridge lol.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: And here we are again my dear readers! Another chapter! And a week early yeah! A huge, huge thank you to everyone who's stayed tuned in so far! Last chapter this story hit two milestones. 1) 1K reviews 2) 100 reviews on a single chapter. That completely floored me so thank you all so much! I tried to get back to everyone who reviewed, however if I missed you I apologize!**

 **Side note – this was an abnormally long chapter. This trend more than likely won't continue. I like to keep my chapters around 15k if possible…so at about 23k is a little long for me. My poor beta readers…speaking of, a huge shout out to** **HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon. Thank you guys so much for your continued help!**

 **And for those wondering, this arc, 'The Rise' will end when the situation on Earth is dealt with. More than likely have at least 7-10 more chapters still to go. At least. Also, everything from here on out is off of cannon. I'm going to be barrowing some instances from the cannon, but strictly speaking from here on out I'm going to be trying to keep things as original as possible.**

 **Chapter 17**

Standing behind her desk, Nox stared down at the dozens of reports and several newspapers that were scattered across its surface. She'd made a critical error. She'd misjudged her enemy and it'd cost them. Severely.

Ever since she stepped foot on this planet, she'd been carefully analyzing any and all threats to her long term plans. Threats like Voldemort. She'd read over every report she could get her hands on and had made it a point to try and anticipate how he would achieve his goals. The man had been meticulous during his first reign of terror. He stayed in the shadows and spent decades carefully building his power and reputation. And even after he got to the point where he was known, and feared, throughout the land he hardly ever stepped out from the shadows. Any time he did come out there were no survives. Such tactics had made him feared as the people began to akin him to a boogeyman almost.

So when she'd been preparing for his reemergence she'd thought that he'd take the same route. Biding his time and rebuilding his power. But instead, he completely blindsided her by striking immediately. _'No doubt this was his intended first strike all along_.' Nox frowned as she read over the reports. _'But the timing it's…unlike him. It's too hurried. But there is one common theme to all of these attacks. No Death Eaters were reported. More than likely he had to unleash the vampires before he was ready and in turn held back the rest of his forces in reserves.'_

It'd been a smart plan. Unleash a powerful adversary onto the world and pull your forces back while this new element destroyed your enemies and then come in afterwards and clean up the mess. But if it'd only been a simple attack Nox could've responded easily enough. But Voldemort's assault was two-folded: The next morning, before most of the bodies were even cold or the wounds were healed, the papers were flying off the shelves. The blame for the attack on the pureblood families had been laid at the Guardians feet. How they came to that conclusion Nox had no idea. But the Ministry was blaming everything on her and the Guardians and reporting that any report otherwise were simply false.

Casting a glance towards the Daily Prophet, Nox's lips curled in disgust. On the front page of the paper was a picture of her, underneath a headline proclaiming her to the leader of the Guardians and labeled as "Undesirable Number One". Skeeter had torn her apart. Showing how she'd built up a powerbase built entirely of muggleborns and disgruntled half-bloods and magical creatures before creating a terrorist organization known as the "Guardians", whose sole purpose was to destroy the magical community's way of life. And kill as many purebloods as possible.

The true irony was that Skeeter actually wasn't that far off of the mark either. Well, except for the whole terrorist thing. But unfortunately, while she wholeheartedly agreed with her son's actions when they'd left Hogwarts, him killing a fellow student on his way out the door only served to reaffirm Skeeter's portrayal as a leader of a terrorist organization on par with Voldemort and his Death Eaters in the minds of the people.

She was also left in the in the position of handing out Kira Carsen's saberstaff to Luna and Lana Beniko's lightsaber to Hermione. And until they could find more kyber crystals or create enough synthetic crystals, an idea which more than slightly irked the former-Jedi in the Temple, they would be unable to make more lightsabers. Which meant that for the time being Ron, Tracey, Hannah, Astoria and Nat would have to stay behind.

The door to her office opened with as a clearly irritated Amelia Bones swept through the opening. Amelia had been hit as well recently. With the same stroke of the pen that named Nox Undesirable Number One; it'd also removed Amelia from her position as Head of the DMLE and had issued a statement claiming that she was wanted for questioning concerning her connection to Nox. Without saying a word, Amelia dropped a non-magical newspaper onto her desk. The front page was dominated by a horrific scene. A dozen houses reduced to nothing more than a charred shell.

"The attack happened last night in conjunction with the one's that hit all of us." Amelia explained, walking over to Nox's stash of alcohol and taking a pull straight from the bottle. "A dozen families…dead. The muggle authorities are claiming that it was a natural gas leak that started a chain reaction that set fire to all dozen houses."

"And what's your take?" Nox asked, reading over the latest bit of bad news.

"Complete dragon shite." Amelia cursed. "I know that neighborhood. Those twelve houses specifically were home to muggleborns who, after graduating Hogwarts, returned to the muggle world to live away from the rest of the magical community. Fuck…three of those families had children no older than my niece! But more than that, there were no bodies recovered from the fires. Which means, given who attacked us, that they're…"

"Either being harvested, turned into thralls or turned completely." Nox finished for the woman, tossing the paper aside. "How is the Prime Minister responding?"

"About as well as you might imagine." Amelia sighed. "He just about hit the roof according to the agent I have in his office, the one that Fudge doesn't know about. He's demanding that Fudge show up and explain what happened, but Fudge is stonewalling him for some reason."

Looking down at the paper, Nox pursed her lips. "No matter his reason, we will take advantage of his lack of action. I want you to go to the Prime Minister's office and explain what's going on. How Voldemort is back and how the Ministry of Magic, has been infiltrated, possibly even at the highest level. And that he should set a watch on all the muggleborn and squib families that I know he has a file on. Oh, and while you're there take a good look at the Ministry's operative inside the British government. If he's been compromised, take him out and install the agent that's loyal to you in his place."

Amelia's eyebrows rose before narrowing in anger. "I'm not an assassin Nox."

"No. You're not." Nox agreed, placing her hands on her desk and leaning forward. "But we're at war Amelia. Fighting a war means casualties. Voldemort's already struck the first blow and as such has practically forced us out of magical Britain. We need to focus our efforts on containment now. We can't allow him to gain a foothold in the muggle world. If he does, then without a doubt he'll attack. And when he does any and all hope we might have of a peaceful transition of the magical and mundane communities will go down the drain. So if this agent of the Ministry is a threat. Take. Them. Out."

Amelia looked like she wanted to press the issue, but Nox simply held her gaze almost daring her to try and refute her. "Fine." Amelia submitted as she looked away. "I'll go to the Prime Minister today. He always said that I had an open door policy with him. Let's hope that has remained the case."

"I hope so as well." Nox mused. "Without realizing it, Voldemort has put us in a corner. We can't openly act against him until this threat is dealt with. The last thing that we need is for the mundane world to announce the Rite of Annulment."

Amelia's head jerked. "What's that?"

Sighing, Nox opened one of the many sealed drawers on her desk and pulled out a two inch thick binder that was stuffed full of papers and tossed it over to Amelia. "These plans took me quite a while to obtain. And even then I was only able to get a hold of them after a pathetic Senator tried to blackmail me. In return, I confounded him into bringing me these plans."

Looking down at the folder wearily, Amelia reached out and picked up the folder as Nox continued speaking. "After World War II and Gellert Grindelwald's backing of Hitler came to light, the UN came the unanimous decision that it had to have a contingency plan in place for the magical world. If the a country is faced with a revolt from the magical community, the leader of said country along with the backing of four of his of cabinet can send a request to the UN for the Rite of Annulment. If the request received three-quarter support amongst the UN delegates, it authorizes the usage of chemical, biological and nuclear armaments against know magical strongholds in the desalinated country. For the US, the targets are Salem, the Magical Congress and Ivermorny. For Britain, they would target the Ministry under London, Diagon Alley and Hogwarts."

Amelia's eyes were nearly as wide as saucers as she began frantically flipping through the binder that Nox had provided her. "This…no. They can't…there are families and children! They would…Merlin why?"

"Better to kill one innocent than risk a magical killing thousands in their eyes." Nox shrugged. "You have no idea just how long it took me to get a hold of those plans. And those aren't even all of them. Just the strike points and within America and Britain and how they would hit them. And since I learned of them, I've been working on a countermeasure to the Rite which will work."

"How?" Amelia pressed, her face etched with worry.

"By preventing them from even giving the orders or being able to use their weapons." Nox answered. "My countermeasures are fully in place in a dozen of the world's most powerful countries. But now you understand the gravity of our situation. While I can counter the Rite, we cannot allow Voldemort to escape into the mundane world. We cannot give them an excuse to activate that Rite."

Flipping through the folder, Amelia shuddered as she closed the binder. "I'll make sure to stress the fact that we are handling this matter internally then." Pausing, Amelia licked her lips. "How are…how are Daphne and Astoria?"

Frowning, Nox sunk heavily down into her seat. "Not well. Harry and the others are with them trying to offer what support they can. But I fear the loss of their parents has created a wound in both that will take some time to heal. They did manage to give us a name though. Vlad Sanguine."

Wincing, Amelia took the seat directly across from Nox. "That's…not good. That bastard is a Dread Lord Vampire that was exiled and magically sealed off of the British Isles over a century ago. For him to return…it would've taken the approval of no less than five department heads from the Ministry." Sighing, Amelia leaned her head back. "And what of our other arrivals?"

Picking up a random report, Nox flipped through its contents while she kept talking. "Adjusting. If I had known the twins were so industrious I would've pulled them out of school years ago and set them to work. I just needed to show them the lab that we have here in the Temple and they just about wet themselves. I gave them a project, and to my knowledge neither has left the lab in the past twenty-four hours. And Xenophilius has joined the two as well. The man is actually quite the genius.

"Bill has started up a correspondence with Gringotts. Unfortunately, as it was only the vampires that attacked one of their employee's we can't use that to leverage the goblins against the Death Eaters. But they've already started supplying him with everything they know about this vampire clan that attacked us.

"Dan is still recovering and his wife is with him as is Hermione. Richard Davis is with him as well, although his injuries are not nearly as severe. Master Fay expects that both will be fully recovered within a week or two at the most. Dan has already expressed an interest in joining up with our troopers, so I intend to send him off to General Rex with a field promotion as soon as he's up and ready. And Maximilian and Anna Abbott are both currently helping Master Mallie in the library."

"And what of Molly and Arthur Weasley?" Amelia asked.

Frowning, Nox dropped the folder down heavily. "They're both…adjusting. Arthur is poking around at every piece of technology he can get his hands onto and Molly…she's been quiet for now. But I fear that this is just the calm before the storm. I know her type. Soon enough I'm going to have to have some more than slightly unpleasant words with her."

"That really wouldn't surprise me." Amelia chuckled without humor. "And what of our Champions?"

Picking up another folder from her desk, Nox started flipping through its contents. "Fleur has already requested that her family be granted asylum, which I've agreed too. They should be here by the end of the week. Hopefully this will provide us with a way into talks with the Veela nation, as they could prove to be quite beneficial to our cause. Viktor has no family, but he has requested that he be taught how to fly one of the Blackwings. I've assigned Master Secura to begin training him tomorrow morning. Cedric has written his father, but as the man is deep into Fudge's administrative staff, the odds of receiving a positive reply back are slim."

Both women paused as a tentative knock came from the door. "Come in Bill." Nox called out, waving her hand and making the door open.

Moving slowly, Bill kept his eyes on the section of the door frame that the door retracted into as he walked into her office. "That…is going to take some getting used to." The young curse breaker said quietly as the door shut behind him.

"I take it that you've heard back from the goblins Bill?" Nox asked, nodding towards the scroll that the eldest Weasley was holding in his hand.

"Huh? Oh, yes ma'am." Bill stuttered, suddenly remembering the reason why he'd come up here as he handed off the large scroll to Nox. "The goblins cannot take direct action against the Sanguine clan as they no longer have holdings in Gringotts. However…seeing as how they attempted to kill a valued customer of theirs and a current employee who still has a few years left on his contract, the goblins…accidently sent me these."

Unrolling the scroll, which was actually an assortment of scrolls all rolled together, Nox had to actually work at keeping her face steady. Amelia however wasn't as skilled "Merlin's balls…are those…"

"Yes they are." Nox smiled as her eyes ran over the multitude of drawings before her. "The blueprints to Sanguine's Coven."

"Naturally, the goblins have no idea just how they managed to misplace such important papers." Bill went on, only this time with a slight smile. "And they are looking into how they managed to disappear from the vaults. But…times are pressing and they don't believe they'll be able to assign someone to search for them for a few months."

Leafing through the blueprints, Nox sent Bill a saucy grin which had the young man gulping. "Bill…If I wasn't sure that Tonks would feel the urge to immolate you, or that a certain veela would become put out with me, I would shag your brains out right here on my office floor."

Smiling cockily, Bill leaned up against the corner of her desk and crossed his arms. "Well…far be it for me to be somewhere Tonks has been."

"Then you might want to not lean up against the side of my desk right there as she spent quite a bit of time bent over it recently." Nox commented calmly, causing Amelia to cough and Bill to freeze before turning slightly red.

"Right…" Bill said slowly as he leaned away from her desk. "Morgana's tits…that's…that's an image that's going to take a while to get out of my head. And what an image it is."

"Just go shag your pretty little veela." Nox waved absentmindedly. "I'm sure that can take image of Tonks and me rolling naked across the floor right where you're standing out of your mind."

Bill's blush escalated until his entire face was the same color of his hair. "Merlin's saggy…I concede. Just…I need to go and take a really cold shower now."

"Don't take too long," Nox called out as Bill headed for the door. "I want you to with General Rex and I when we start devising our plans."

Bill's back stiffened and his mouth started doing an impressive fish out of water impression. "Um, of course Madam Nox." He mumbled before backing out of her office.

"Bright kid." Amelia commented after he was gone. "I tried to get him into the Auror program, but the goblins swept in and grabbed him before I had a chance to."

"And that's why I want him with us when we plan our counterattack." Nox commented, pointing to a note that the goblins had slipped in with the blueprints. "While he can't come outright and say it because of his oaths to Gringotts, apparently he was part of a team that responsible for excavating an abandoned vampire lair. And according to the goblins, the vampires are slower to accept changes than wizards and witches are."

Shaking her head, Amelia rose from her seat. "Ah the goblins…they simply can't resist throwing in an insult. Even when they're trying to help even though they're not officially 'helping'."

"I'd say that you're a cut above the average Amelia." Nox smiled looking at the woman. "But then again maybe not."

Amelia blinked. "Come again Nox?"

"Sirius." Nox stated flatly. "When are you planning on telling him?"

Amelia froze as her hand twitched involuntarily towards her midsection. "How do you know?"

Nox smirked. "Call it a woman's intuition. So, how far along?"

Amelia looked away, unable or unwilling to hold her gaze. "A few weeks."

Nox smiled, though she couldn't help the slight twinge of envy that swelled within her at a woman she would be willing to call a friend for being able to do something that'd been taken from Nox when she was still but a child; a feeling that she crushed without mercy or hesitation.

"Tell him before you go a meet the Prime Minister." Nox stated. "He'll be overjoyed I assure you. Tonks will be as well. She never really wanted the title of Head of House Black. And now she'll have a legit excuse for giving it back. Oh, and I don't think that I need to tell you that your condition pretty much demotes you down to regulatory work for the duration of your pregnancy. You can come with us until you start showing, but you are not allowed to be in the line of fire."

Amelia's eyes hardened. "I'm pregnant. Not an invalid."

"I never said you were." Nox shot back with just as much fire. "But all the same…take it from a woman who would trade everything to be in your shoes right now. Treasure your child. And do whatever you can to keep them safe."

Amelia's eyes softened as Nox's past, which she'd only revealed parts of to her and Sirius, came to the forefront of her mind. "Oh, right. I'm sorry I for-"

"There's no harm done Amelia." Nox waved her off. "Now go tell Sirius. I need to look over these plans."

Recognizing her dismissal, Amelia nodded and left her office without a backwards glance. Once she was alone, Nox allowed herself to sink deeply into her chair as envy once again coursed through her. 'Enough!' She chided herself. 'You have Harry. And while you didn't push him out, he's your son as much as he is James and Lily Potter.' With that thought firmly in her mind, Nox turned her mind away from Amelia, Sirius and their soon to come child and instead focused on the blueprints laid out before her. She had a counterattack to plan. Those foolish vampires had absolutely no idea just what it meant to piss off a Darth. A reformed Darth she might be, but she was still willing to take the Sith approach to war.

* * *

Bringing his lightsaber around, Harry caught the blue edge of the glowing blade against his black-purple blade. Angling his lightsaber, he diverted the strike and spun around slashing upwards aiming from his opponent's back. Expecting his opponent had anticipated this and had rolled away from him before regaining their feet and spinning back around to face him. "Nicely done Daphne." Harry commented as Daphne held her saberstaff in a guard ready for his next assault.

It'd been four days since the attack on…well everyone. Daphne and Astoria, having lost their parents, had been hit the hardest. But the two showed their grief in completely opposite ways. Astoria bawled her eyes out and was almost inconsolable for two days. The only thing that got her out of her room was when Master Nox tore down her door and pulled her out by the ear, stating categorically that Astoria was still her apprentice and that she won't accept her to skip out on any more lessons. After that brief little scene the two disappeared for nearly a full day and when everyone saw them again, Astoria was following his mother around diligently and had a more than slightly frightening gleam to her eye. Whatever his mother had said, or did; it had worked. And Astoria was more focused than ever.

Daphne on the other hand, outside of her outburst at Hogwarts, didn't shed a single tear. Even as she held onto her sister while she was bawling her eyes out Daphne never shed a single tear. The next morning when Harry went down to the training room before the sunrise he found Daphne already there and by the look of the mostly destroyed room and by the fact that she was drenched in sweat, she'd been there for some time.

Instead of walking out though, Harry drew his own lightsaber and walked towards Daphne. There were no words spoken as she sensed his presence, as he did nothing to hide it, and turned to attack him. From then on, the two spent hours upon hours every day hacking away at each other. Harry, by far, landed more hits than he received, but with each hour that passed Daphne was improving by leaps and bounds. Every day they would be joined by Luna, Ginny, Susan, Hermione, Ahsoka and Nat. But always it was Harry and Daphne who dueled one another.

Spinning her saberstaff around, Daphne jumped while she spun, adding momentum to her strike as she brought one end of her saberstaff down hard. "Why?" Daphne asked as they locked blades, making Harry blink. That was the first word she'd uttered in days, outside of Vlad Sanguine. "Why didn't you let me kill that little shite? You killed one of the Slytherins, arseholes that he was…so why didn't you let me kill Draco?"

"Because that wasn't you Daphne." Harry answered. "Also we needed to leave. Voldemort got what he wanted. He exposed us." Daphne's eyebrow arched at that. "That was his goal all along. He attacked anyone close to me and my mother in hopes of drawing all of us out. And when you attacked Draco, it forced all of us into action."

Daphne didn't say anything as they stood there. Slowly, the pressure against his blade lessened until it was nonexistent. "I-"

"You don't have to say anything Daphne," Harry cut her off, deactivating his own lightsaber and stepping close to her. "I don't blame you. None of us do. Hell I was ready to slash that little shite clean in half and if Snape and the other professors hadn't interfered I would've."

Daphne lowered her eyes. "He knew Harry. I don't know how he knew but the little shite knew what had happened." Looking back up at him, the steel that'd faded from her eyes just moments ago returned with a vengeance making her eyes shine like ice. "When I see him again…I will kill him. Him and everyone else who had a hand in this."

"And I'll be right beside you Daphne." Harry said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Me, Ginny, Susan, Hermione, Luna and even Ahsoka. We'll be there with you and help you hunt those bastard blood suckers and Death Eaters down to the last man."

Daphne's lips turned upwards, making Harry smile in return. It was the first positive sign of emotion that she'd shown in days. "Thank you Harry."

"He's right you know. We're all with you."

Looking behind him, Harry found Ahsoka leaning against the entrance to the training room with a slight grin on her face. "Thank you Ahsoka." Daphne nodded before walking away from Harry and towards the exit. "Now if you two will excuse me, I need to find Luna. I've been neglecting my duties as her Master for some time now."

After Daphne left the room, Harry stared at Ahsoka. This was the first time the two of them had been alone since they'd left Hogwarts. "Where's Nat?" Harry asked taking a step towards her.

"In the library." Ahsoka answered, pushing herself off of the door frame and letting the door shut behind her. "Ginny?"

"Three hours of meditation in the Waterfall Tranquility Room for being an hour late to morning practice." Harry answered as the two came closer to one another while drawing his wand and casting a quick and silent locking charm on the only way in and out.

Ahsoka tilted her head to the side and stopped moving with less than a pace separating the two of them. "So…I guess we have some time to ourselves don't we? Whatever shall we do?"

Harry didn't answer; preferring instead to cross the last pace between the two of them and gathered her up in his arms. Their lips crashed together almost painfully, drawing a slight gasp out of Ahsoka which she quickly recovered from as she jumped slightly and wrapped both of her legs around his waist as his hands traveled down her slender frame and held onto her underneath her legs.

Their lips broke apart as Ahsoka gasped when her back hit the wall, but Harry gave her no time to recover as the primal side of his brain slowly started taking over and he started attacking the crook of her neck. Her legs tightened their grip, as her hands fisted into his hair and small gasps of pleasure left her as he pressed her against the wall of the training room.

Harry wasn't quite sure just how she managed to do it, but somehow while still being pressed up against the wall, Ahsoka managed to take out the back of his knees and sending the both of them to the floor with her on top. Not that Harry was complaining of course. Especially when she began to assault his neck and her hands literally ripped his shirt off of his chest.

Through the haze that Ahsoka was inflicting upon him, Harry felt the lightest touches of what felt like…wings against the top of his head. Craning his neck, Harry looked up…and saw a magically conjured black butterfly flapping merely beside his head. "Ahsoka?" Harry groaned, bringing a stop to the more than slightly pleasurable sensations she was sending through his body. "Not that I want to stop by any means but…but I think we have a voyeur here."

Ceasing her attack on his skin, Ahsoka looked up and saw that black butterfly that was slowly circling the two of them. "Well….that's different."

Nodding, Harry reached out towards the butterfly. When his hand was almost close enough to touch, the butterfly swooped in and landed on his outstretched fingers. As soon as it touched his skin, he could hear his mother's voice in his head. _**"Harry. The Delacours are due to arrive soon. Report down to the entrance hall if you can manage extract your tongue from Ahsoka's mouth long enough to do so."**_

"What's going on Harry?" Ahsoka asked, still atop of him, as the butterfly disappeared.

"Apparently my mother has found a new way to communicate throughout the Temple." Harry commented, just barely managing to keep the blush from showing on his face as his mother had somehow knew exactly what the two of them were up to.

Getting off of him, Ahsoka stared at the spot where the butterfly had disappeared from. "What?"

Pushing himself up with a groan, Harry pulled out his wand and cast a quick repairing charm on his shirt. 'No need to give my mother more ammunition than she already has.' "You know how the Patronus can be used to send messages?" Ahsoka nodded at his question. "Basically the same concept sans Patronus. She conjured up that butterfly, recorded a message inside of it and sent it off to find me. Funny thing is though I heard at the Ministry that they write their memos on paper then send them out by paper airplanes. This must be a new a combination of the two."

Ahsoka blinked. "That's…that's brilliant."

"Yeah," Harry chuckled. "I'm sure Hermione's going to have field day trying to figure out how she did it."

Ahsoka nodded. "So…what was the message?"

"Huh? Oh, she said that the Delacours are due to arrive soon and that she wanted us to meet her in the entrance hall in order to greet them." Harry answered, hoping that she wouldn't ask if there was anything else to the message.

"Oh, alright." Ahsoka said awkwardly rising to her feet and looking over herself. "Um…is everything in order?"

Harry smirked at her. "Yeah, looks like it."

Ahsoka stared down at herself and then shot him a sly look. "Do try to do better next time then Potter. Lest I think that you're not…up to the challenge of being with me."

Her comment caught him completely off guard, and by the time his brain finally managed to get back into gear Ahsoka was already out the door and turning down the hall. "Hey!" Harry shouted, running after her. "That was completely unfair!"

By the time he actually managed to catch up with her, the two of them found themselves in the entrance hall with the dozen fireplaces lining either wall. Standing in front of one such fireplace were his mother and Tonks. His mother merely gave the two of them a passing glance, while Tonks on the other hand threw a saucy wink at the two of them. "So, I see that the two of you actually managed to disentangle yourselves from one another long enough to greet our guests." Tonks smirked. "Impressive."

Harry coughed slightly and Ahsoka's cheeks took on a slight coloring as the two of them joined his mother and Tonks in front of the fireplace. "Easy Tonks. After all, didn't you miss your fair share of Auror meetings because the two of us were…indisposed? In bed. Or the shower. Or there was that one time when we were in the locker room in the Ministry as well."

Tonks' face turned completely red, as did her hair. "Nox! Merlin's saggy…you're not supposed to tell your bloody son about what we do when we're…"

"What?" His mother asked casually, tilting her head to the side as she grinned at the three of them. "Doing the horizontal tango? Come off it Tonks. Harry's old enough to know about sex and if he hasn't at least thought about what two women do together in bed…then I'd be fairly disappointed in him and tell Ahsoka that she needs to start fast tracking his education in that subject."

Now mortified, all three of them stared at Harry's mother with dropped jaws. "Mother…" Harry said slowly, praying for some sort of miracle to occur to save him, all of them, from this humiliation.

Mercifully, his prayers were answered as the Floo flared to life allowing Fleur and Bill to step out followed quickly by two who could only be Fleur's parents and a young girl. "Harry!" The young girl cried as soon as she was clear of the fireplace.

Harry just barely managed to steady himself as the young girl barreled into him and wrapped her small arms around his midsection. Casting a pleading look at Ahsoka, his girlfriend merely gave him an amused shrug as if to tell him that he was on his own for this one. "Hey Gabrielle." Harry said, awkwardly returning the younger girls hug briefly. "It's good to see you again."

"Gabrielle. Leave the poor boy alone."

Disentangling himself slightly from the small girl, Harry looked up and got his first good look at Fleur's parents. Her father was…well…ordinary. He had an easygoing face and was maybe just an inch shorter than Harry. Her mother however…if someone didn't point out the fact that they were mother and daughter Harry would've guessed that they were in fact sisters. "Pardonne ma mere." Gabrielle said quietly as she moved back from Harry. "It's good to see you again Harry."

"Yes, our little girl has been quite looking forward to this meeting. It took us an hour to get her out of her bedroom this morning as she had to be 'perfect' when she met the Harry Potter this time around." Fleur's father laughed, earning a glare from his youngest daughter as he stepped up and nodded towards Harry and his mother. "I am Jean-Claude Delacour. Unfortunately not Jean-Claude Van Damme to my beautiful wife's everlasting disappointment."

"Jean." Fleur's mother sighed, slapping her husband on the shoulder. "Je t'aime. I am Antoinette Delacour, but you may call me Ann. Everyone does. It is a pleasure to meet you both Mademoiselle Nox, Monsieur Potter. Our daughter has spoken very highly of the both of you."

"And of the company you both keep." Jean-Claude added, eyeing both Ahsoka and Tonks respectfully.

"I'm glad to meet you both as well." Nox nodded back politely. "You already know my son Harry Potter. And this is his girlfriend Ahsoka Tano. And this is my little Nymphadora Tonks."

Harry could've sworn he heard Tonks mutter "I'll show you little" under breath, but he decided not to comment on it.

"It is good to meet you all." Jean-Claude nodded. "On behalf of both myself and the French Ministry."

"Speaking of," his mother said. "I doubt that the French Ministry often lets one of their top diplomats go wherever he desires on a whim. So offense, why are you here?"

Jean-Claude smiled. "Officially, I'm not here."

His mother cocked an eyebrow at that. "And unofficially?"

"Unofficially, I'm here to assess the threat level posed by the possible return of the so-called 'Dark Lord' Voldemort and to assess strength of you and your Guardians to see if you could be potential allies to the French Ministry. As well as learn as much as I can about your…unusual associates." Jean-Claude explained casually. "I'm also, unofficially, here to offer you whatever services I can. And my wife is here as an 'unofficial' ambassador to the Veela nation as a whole. Not just the colony in France."

Harry was surprised at that. He knew that his mother was looking for a way to open a dialogue with the veela, considering they were probably the third most populous near-human magical species next to werewolves and vampires. But unlike those two, veela were readily accepted almost across the globe and could be a major asset to their long term plans.

Nox smiled at having what she'd been waiting for practically thrusted into her lap. "And I look forward to such discussions. And as for the abilities of the Guardians…well you'll be able to see that for yourself first hand soon enough."

Ann's grin was almost malicious. "I take it then that you're not about to let what those bastard blood suckers did to your people go then? Good. It is far past time someone took them down a peg."

Nox's return grin was just as malicious. "Oh, you have no idea." Pausing, she tilted her head off to the side. "And as for my unusual associates, you're about to meet one now."

As soon as the words left her lips, there was a slight crack as Master Fay appeared right next to the small group. The ageless Master looked around as if searching for something before her eyes landed on the small group. Harry felt something almost…reaching emanating from Master Fay. "Monsieur and Mademoiselle Delacour, may I present Master Fay of the Guardians." Nox said, introducing Master Fay. "One of our eldest and most experienced Masters."

Master Fay barely gave the elder two Delacours a brief nod before her eyes zeroed in on the young Gabrielle. Gabrielle, for her part, was staring up at the elder woman with awe and wonder written across her face. Taking a step towards her, Master Fay knelt down in front of the young girl. "What is your name young one?"

"Gabrielle."

Focusing in on the two of them through the Force, Harry could sense that both of them were reaching out to one another as they, seemingly unconsciously, tried to form a Master-Apprentice bond with one another. "Master Nox," Master Fay announced suddenly. "I fear I'm going to have to borrow Battlemaster Marek for some time. It has been several centuries since I last held my lightsaber…and I do not want my new Padawan, or rather Apprentice, to be lacking in any aspect of her training."

The elder Delacours looked completely lost, Fleur was volleying back and forth between looking at her sister with pride and envy, Bill merely looked surprised, Nox just shrugged and Ahsoka… Ahsoka looked completely floored. "Master?" Ahsoka said slowly. "You…you haven't taken a Padawan in…well…"

"A long time my dear." Master Fay commented, rising to her feet but keeping her eyes firmly on her Apprentice. "And I would say that it is far past time that I did so. That is of course…if her parents are willing?"

Both Jean-Claude and Ann looked uncertain about the prospect. But it was Fleur who spoke up first. "Trust me mama, papa…this is something we want. If what I've seen so far from Harry and the others is any indication, and even from the few tricks that the Masters here have shown me over the past couple of days, Gabrielle will receive far better training and educating here than she could ever hope for at Beauxbatons."

Fleur's parents looked at one another and then down at their daughter. Gabrielle didn't meet their gaze, instead she just continued to stare up at Master Fay with a look of almost devotion in her eyes. "Alright." Jean-Claude nodded before staring hard at Master Fay. "But I wish to be privy to all aspects of her education. Or at the very least receive regular updates on her progress."

Master Fay didn't seem to appreciate Jean-Claude sticking his nose into her training, but then again she was no longer in the Jedi Order so different rules applied. "Very well," Master Fay conceded. "I will keep you apprised as best as I am able to do so. But first, Gabrielle Delacour, do you consent to being my Apprentice? Are you willing to follow my every instruction as law? Are willing to work harder than you have ever done in the past? Are you willing to devote your mind, body and spirit to the Guardian Order?"

The young veela swallowed hard as Master Fay laid out exactly what was expected of her. Sinking down onto her knees, Gabrielle bowed her head. "I am…Master."

"Good." Master Fay nodded with a smile. "Then I hereby name you my Apprentice. Now get up. We have a lot to catch you up on. And not much time to do it in."

Turning on her heel, Master Fay hesitated just long enough to give a nod to Nox before walking out of the entrance hall, leaving Gabrielle scrambling to get back up onto her feet and chase after her new Master. "Well, now that that is all taken care of," Nox said bringing the conversation back around. "I believe that we need to get you two settled. Winky!"

"Yes Mistress?" Winky asked, appearing beside Nox. Harry nearly laughed as the little house elf was wearing an oversize robe styled after the Jedi, or rather the Guardian, robes with a giant Guardian emblem across her chest.

Nox didn't even bat an eye. "If you would be so kind, would you please show the Delacours to their rooms? Oh, and Gabrielle will be needing a room of her own set up as well. One near to Master Fay's quarters. Oh, and Mr. Delacour, you'll be able to get a firsthand assessment of the Guardian Order tomorrow as we have a strategy council at 0800 tomorrow morning. You're more than welcome to attend."

After Jean-Claude nodded his consent, Winky started frantically waving for the Delacours to follow her. "Winky will takes good cares of thems Mistress! Please, follow Winky Master and Mistress Delacour! Winky takes good care of all of Mistress guests!"

Giving their farewells; Fleur and her parents allowed the energetic little house elf to lead them out of the entrance hall and towards their quarters. "So," Harry said, turning towards Bill. "How was meeting your girlfriend's parents for the first time?"

Bill paused. "You know Harry…I've faced down vampires, ghouls, thousand year old death traps in pyramids, angry goblins, mummies and a whole plethora of things that scare even witches and wizards never see. But not one of those things prepared me to meet a mother veela.

"Especially after Fleur let it slip that we've been…well…intimate. Bloody hell…I'm lucky I didn't piss myself after the look she gave me." Shuddering at the image, Bill turned to Harry. "Moral of the story: never piss of a veela. Even a half-veela. I was certain she was going to serve my roasted arse to dinner!"

* * *

The next morning, Harry found himself in what had become known as the main briefing room within the Temple, which had also been dubbed the "War Room". The room was shaped like a half sphere with rows of benches rising up along the outside leaving the center area empty save for a single podium and a large holographic projector. Ahsoka was sitting on his left side with Nat sitting on her other side while Ginny was seated on his right. Daphne and Luna were sitting next to one another as where Susan and Hermione.

All around them the rest of the Masters were sitting with their respective Apprentices talking quietly amongst one another. Even Remus and Aela, who had come back late the previous night with their first load of minerals from their survey and mining operation, were in attendance.

Directly across the room from them sat all of the adult witches and wizards plus the two of the Tri-Wizard Champions, Cedric and Viktor. And seated next to them were all of the soldiers that'd been present during the raid on Voldemort's resurrection ritual. _'Actually_ ,' Harry thought, looking over the assembled troopers. _'There looks to be at least two more squads with us this time around. Maybe General Rex and Master Ti decided that they were ready for whatever is about to happen.'_

As Harry looked around, he was sure that every soul in the Temple save for Winky, Kreacher and Bonesy was in the room. There were only three people missing. Nox, Bill and Fleur. Well BB-8 as well if you counted the usually quiet little astromech. The air within the room was so thick that he was sure it could be cut with a knife. 'No doubt everyone in here knows just what is about to go down.'

A low toned beeping sounded, ending all conversation as Nox, Bill, Fleur and BB-8 made their way into the meeting hall. Bill and Fleur immediately took seats on the bottom most row while Nox and BB-8 made their way to the center.

Stopping next to the projector, Nox made a slow pass around the room with her eyes before beginning. "In case there was any doubt in your minds…we are at war. Tom Riddle, also known as the Dark Lord Voldemort has returned from his wraith like form and has picked up where he left off over a decade ago. We dealt a decisive blow to him during his ritual, thinning out his followers significantly and wounding the Dark Lord severely. His reaction however has left us in a quandary. Instead of pulling back and gathering his forces as he's done in the past, he struck back, striking a deal with Dread Lord Sanguine and his Vampire clan."

The lights in the room dimmed as BB rolled up to the edge of the projector and plugged himself in. Immediately Harry felt his fist clench and he involuntarily reached out and grab Ahsoka's hand as the first image appeared. It was of a small muggle neighborhood. Only a dozen of the houses had been reduced to smoldering ash. "As you can see, the magical world isn't the only area that was-"

"The children shouldn't be here for this! They need to leave!"

Every eye in the room turned towards the speaker, some in confusion but most in disbelief as they found Molly Weasley turning slightly red as her husband tried to pull her back down. Nox merely glared at the woman. "Mrs. Weasley. Your sons and daughter have more of a right to be here than you do. They are a part of the Guardian Order. A vital part I might add. You, however, are not. Interrupt me again and I will throw you out of this room and onto your ass. Do not test me on this."

Molly Weasley, thoroughly red at this point, started looking around desperately for any support. But all she got in return were blank stares. Even from her own children. Realizing that she was alone Molly sunk back down into her seat.

Giving Molly one last glare, Nox returned to the hologram as another image, this time of another muggle neighborhood that had suffered the same type of damage. "While Voldemort and his Death Eaters are recovering, the Sanguine clan has been making runs on the non-magical world. At current count, there have been over fifty homesteads destroyed. Amelia Bones had a meeting with the British Prime Minister and assured him that we are working to put a stop to this; so for the moment he has only released a warning and a statement that there have been some faulty gas lines which as a result are creating chain reaction. But that excuse will only last for so long. Plus, there is another factor about these attacks. Despite the fact that over fifty homesteads belonging to both muggleborn and squib families have been attacked, not one body has been found so far."

Circling around the projection, Nox continued her briefing. "At the moment there has been no sighting of Death Eaters at any attack nor has there been any evidence of their magic present. Therefore it is our conclusion that Voldemort, while nesting his forces, is using the vampires to do his dirty work. We're going to take advantage of this temporary division in their ranks. And assault clan Sanguine where they live with the purpose of annihilating every bloodsucker that calls that clan home."

The werewolves that made up the ranks of the troopers literally started howling their approval at this. Anyone who knew their history knew that there was no love lost between the vampires and werewolves considering the fact that the vampires kept the werewolves as their daylight guardians, or rather their daylight slaves, for centuries.

Once the noise had quieted down, Nox moved back around as BB-8 brought up another image. This one a satellite image of what looked like a large mansion surrounded by a fence with two other small buildings next to it on a secluded island. "Over a hundred years ago the Sanguine clan was exiled from the British Isles and forced to remain on this small little rock. We've since confirmed their presence on the island and thanks to some…misplaced information, we've formulated a plan of attack."

The image shifted again, this time showing what looked like a three dimensional blueprint. "As you can see, the manor on the surface is quite literally the tip of the iceberg. Underneath the manor are catacombs where all of the vampires live. According to the blueprints that were…mistakenly given to us, there is only one point of entry into the catacombs. And that is here. Right in the center of the manor house."

"What about an escape tunnel ma'am?" Commander Gregor questioned looking over the schematic with a critical eye. "Surely they've installed something in case of incursion? And if not, they why not just simply bomb the island and take them all out?"

"They haven't installed any escape routes because they do not fear attack Commander." Bill spoke up, and then after receiving a nod from Nox stood up and pointed towards the hologram. "The entirety of the catacombs are layered with runes upon runes. After World War II the Sanguine clan contracted the goblins to enhance those runes. At the moment you could drop a nuclear warhead onto the manor and all you would do is destroy the manor. The lower catacombs would seal off and the vampires would go into hibernation, wait a century or two, and then reemerge just as strong as they were."

"Thank you Bill," Nox nodded as Bill retook his seat. "Mr. Weasley is correct. Upon attack and during the daylight hours the vampires will seal themselves off in the catacombs. But assaulting them at night while they are at their strongest is out of the question as we have no accurate counting of their numbers. Therefore, we will be launching our assault at sunrise."

The schematic moved as several points on the blueprint became highlighted. "Master Secura." The twi'lek Master straightened at hearing her name. "As the most experienced fighter pilot that we have, I'm placing you in charge of our fighter squadron, the 'Nighthawk Squadron', for the duration of this mission. The Nighthawk Squadron will make as many passes over the complex as needed targeting key points indicated in your mission brief.

"Your primary targets are what we believe to be a guard barracks located here," his mother said pointing to one of the smaller buildings. "You're secondary targets are the spires on the eastern and western end of the mansion and the guard shack located along the main gate entrance here."

Master Secura looked over the schematic and nodded. Continuing on, Nox waved her hand was at the holographic image showing two representations of LAATs settled over the main courtyard of the complex. "Once our fighters have softened their defenses, two LAATs will descend. The first LAAT will be carrying; myself, Master Kenobi, both Master Mareks, their apprentices along with General Rex and Alpha Squad. The second LAAT will be led by Master Vos. Ti, Fay and Ventress along with Apprentice Brood and Beta Squad. We'll touch down on the roof and make our way down into the mansion from there. Mr. Granger, I trust that our resident witches and wizards have you back up to fighting form?"

Hermione's father, who had up until that point had been following along quietly, gaze a slight start. "Yes ma'am."

"Good," Nox smirked. "Because I'm attaching you to delta squad for the duration of this mission. I trust that this will not be an issue?"

Hermione's father didn't even bat an eye. "Not at all ma'am."

"Good." Nox nodded turning back around to her briefing. "Master Yoda. While I know that you would be an asset to us on the field. I must ask that you stay behind with Astoria, Gabrielle, Nat, Luke and Galen. As well as all of you Apprentice's that currently lack a lightsaber. They are all far too young and inexperienced for this mission. And don't bother giving me that look girls. I and your Masters will decide when you are ready for this type of mission. And you will not step foot outside of the Temple until we feel that you are ready to do so."

Frowning, Harry rose from his seat. "Mo– Master Nox." _'Force…that feels odd to say. But protocol needs to be followed in these situations_.' "What about myself and Knights Tano, Greengrass, Bones and our Apprentices?"

His mother turned around towards him. "I was just getting to you seven. You'll have a vital part in this operation." The hologram spun again, this time highlighting a single back entrance into the manor. "Harry you and your Valkyries-"

"Valkyries?" Susan blurted out, before reddening and ducking her head as she realized she'd said that aloud.

"Yes," Nox smiled. "You lot are all bird animagus of some sort. So Valkyries seemed appropriate. Continuing on though, you seven will be brought to a small staging island a few miles away. Once there you will transform and fly to the island and stay hidden. After the fighters have their passes, you're to assault the manor from the back door, preventing anyone from leaving and then meeting up with us at the entrance to the catacombs. Once we've all regrouped at the entrance to the catacombs, Mr. Weasley here along with Ms. Delacour will break the wards on the entrance and we'll descend into their lair."

"Rules of engagement once we enter the catacombs ma'am?" Commander Wolffe asked.

"Exercise extreme prejudice." Nox answered immediately. "Assume that everything down in there wants to kill you. Vampires age extremely slowly. One could look and act like a child but in fact be seventy years old and have the strength of ten men."

"That brings up another point ma'am." Dan Granger spoke up again. "I put three shots into one of these creatures chest at almost point blank range and it was able to shrug them off as if they meant nothing. How do we plan on fighting them?"

Nox grinned at that. "Thank you for the segue Commander Granger." Reaching into her robes, his mother pulled out a single bullet that almost looked to be…glowing. "For this mission we'll be using ballistic weaponry almost exclusively. This little thing is something that I came up with just in case the vampires ever decided to fight against us. Upon impact of the body the outer casing will rapidly deteriorate, releasing the irradiated fluid inside. Basically, think of these as liquid sunlight in a bullet. And yes they've been tested and…well they work. Two rounds in the chest and the vampire will die within seconds. And thanks to the work of Mr. Lovegood and our resident twins, we've enough rounds to coat every inch of the catacombs twice over."

"We've also created another little surprise for them as well. Thanks to some clever ingenuity on behalf of the Weasley twins." Xeno Lovegood spoke up, rising from his seat and holding up a small glass sphere. "We call these 'Sun Grenades'. And they pretty much do exactly what they sound like. They're activated by depressing the runes here and five seconds later you'll get a concentrated burst of sunlight enough to either kill or permanently disable a vampire. Just make sure you're not too close when they go off. They're not lethal to normal humans, but they will burn. And I've also taken the liberty of changing out all of your combat knives for silver combat knives."

All of the soldiers looked more than slightly pleased at that, and those who were werewolves looked positively vindictive. "What about military interference?" Dan Granger asked looking around. "They're bound to notice something with this big of an operation so close to their shores."

"The Prime Minister has been informed this mission." Amelia Bones spoke up. "He's vacated the area of all military personnel under the guise that there will be a top secret training exercise over the course of the next few days. We should face no interference from muggles."

"What about resistance on the surface ma'am?" Commander Wolffe questioned. "You said that the vampires will have retreated below the surface by the time of our attack. So what opposition will we be facing up top?"

"More than likely those that have been enthralled as well as what the vampires call day guards." Nox answered. "The thralls are those that've had their minds enslaved by the vampire's enthrallment abilities. And the day guards, well as far as I can understand it half of them worship the vampires and the other half are trying to become vampires. So needless to say that both are fiercely loyal and will fight to the death."

"If these…thralls as you call them, are being controlled by the vampires. Then they are victims in this. Shouldn't we make the effort to secure them with nonlethal force and try to help them?" Master Ti asked as she rubbed her chin in thought.

"You can try if you like Master Ti, unfortunately it's not going to do you much good." Sirius answered heavily. "The vampire's enthrallment pretty much lobotomizes their victims. They know nothing other than the words of their masters and will fight to the death. Even after the vampires that enthralled them are dead, they will still try and carry out their last orders, which are usually to defend them to the death. I believe that St. Mungo's has about a five percent success rate at actually correcting a mind that has been enthralled. And even then, the person is never the same."

"But we should still try." Obi-Wan pressed. "If their minds can be saved, then we have an obligation to do so."

Harry could tell that his mother didn't like the idea, but she was stuck in a hard place as he knew that she was still trying to gain the complete trust of the Jedi that'd joined with them. Even after saving them from extinction and bringing them to Earth, the weight of her once being Sith weighed too heavily on some of their minds. "Capture them if you wish," his mother sighed after a pregnant pause. "But you cannot bring them here. We can place them in a separate holding facility or even transfer them to St. Mungo's. But I will not risk the safety of this Temple."

Obi-Wan and Shaak Ti both frowned slightly, but in the end both nodded as they came to the conclusion that they weren't going to get any more than that.

"Good," his mother nodded. "Just remember, this mission is not one of mercy. We are going to eliminate a threat to both ourselves and the world in general. Our top priority is the extinction of any all vampires within the mansion and the catacombs. And our secondary goal is to try and locate any victims of the recent attacks that might be held prisoner within."

"I highly suggest that you all study the battle plans and layout of both the catacombs and the mansion carefully tonight." His mother wrapped up as BB-8 brought down the hologram and the lights began to brighten. "Harry, you and the Valkyries are to report to the north landing platform at 0400 tomorrow morning to begin your stage of the mission. The rest of us will prepping on the south platform at 0500. Dismissed."

* * *

The next morning well before the sun rose, Ahsoka found herself standing on the northern landing platform along with Harry, the rest of their little group and Master Nox as they finished going over their last minute preparations before the mission. She'd received quite the shock the previous night when she'd returned to her quarters and found a set of Force Armor, genuine Force Armor, the same type that had been banned by the Ruusan Reforms, laid out on her bed.

The armor was a deep red color and sectioned off to allow for movement while still providing protection for her body's vital points. Along with the armor was a dark brown almost black like cloak. And Force only knew how…but the armor fit her like a glove as if it'd been tailored made specifically for her and her alone.

Her first inclination had been to immediately go to Harry and show him her armor, but she'd hesitated. And in the end had stayed in her room for the entirety of the night meditating. They were about to go into battle. And the last thing she needed was thoughts of what had, or might've happened, between her and Harry running through her, or his, head as they were fighting for their lives.

Now standing beside him on the landing platform with the others while Master Nox finished filling them on the finer points of their mission. "I fully expect that Voldemort has at least one plant within the coven." Master Nox was telling them, walking back and forth in front of them as they stood at attention, each of them wearing the same type of armor only with differing colors to tell each set apart. "When you enter the manor keep your eyes open for. If possible we want to capture them for interrogation. Understand?"

"Yes Master." Ahsoka's voice was echoed by the rest of their group as they all acknowledged her.

Gracing them all with a slight upturn of her lips, Master Nox surprised all of them when she brazenly stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Harry. "Be safe my son." Ahsoka could just barely hear her whisper into Harry's ear before she pulled back and stared at all of them. "All of you, be safe. I've grown rather attached to you lot and hate to go through the trouble of trying to find replacements for my son's little harem that I've painstakingly put together."

Ahsoka knew what Master Nox was doing. She was making light of the situation to set all of their minds at ease. It was the same type of tactic that Skywalker used before battle all the time. And just like with Sky-guy, all of the girls, including Ahsoka, smirked and chuckled as Harry shook his head. "Mother…"

Master Nox merely smiled at her son's discomfort. "May the Force be with you all." She said before turning on her heel and disappearing with a crack.

Now alone, Harry took a step forward and faced them. He didn't say anything even though she could tell that he wanted too. As he struggled to find the words, he instead let his eyes do his talking as he took his time meeting each of their eyes one at a time before moving onto the next. His eyes stayed on her eyes the longest, and for not the first time that morning she cursed herself for not seeking him out the night before.

"Let's get this done. And come home. Together." He said with a note of finality as he stepped by them and made his way up into the LAAT.

Following him in, Ahsoka reached up and grabbed hold of the upper netting as the door to the LAAT shut with a note of finality. As they left the ground, her stomach began flipping just as it did before every battle she'd been a part of during the Clone Wars. And just like she did before each of those battles, she closed her eyes and began chanting the Code. Only this time, her chant was quite different than before. _'Passion, yet peace. Serenity, yet emotion. Chaos, yet order.'_

* * *

Watching the ocean fly by below them, Nox held onto the overhang netting as she reached out her senses trying to find her son. His presence was always...muted while he was in his animagus form. But she could always find him no matter what. _'They're on the island_.' She thought, turning looking around at the cramped cabin before looking back down at the ocean below. The first rays of dawn were starting to stretch across the surface of the ocean giving the water a soft glow.

Activing her comlink, Nox brought her wrist up to her lips. "Master Secura. The Valkyries are in place. Commence your assault."

* * *

Guiding her fighter until she was just barely over the ocean's surface, Aayla Secura kept her eyes trained at the rapidly approaching island in front of her. While she didn't necessarily agree to the wholesale destruction of the island, she could understand the necessity of their actions. They didn't have the numbers to fight this war on two fronts at the moment. The number of Force sensitives made up for their lack of ground troops, but they were all untrained. Unprepared. And these…vampires, had already shown themselves to be monsters on par perhaps with even the Sith Emperor.

"Master Secura," Master Nox's voice called out over her comm link. "The Valkyries are in place. Commence your assault."

Nodding to herself, she opened the channel to her squad. "Nighthawk Squadron this is Hawk Leader, check in."

 _ **"Hawk One standing by."**_

 _ **"Hawk Two standing by."**_

 _ **"Hawk Three standing by."**_

 _ **"Hawk Four standing by."**_

Nodding, she disarmed the safety mechanism on her fighter's weapon. "Nighthawk squadron decrease speed and form up on my wing. Time until target, thirty seconds." Tightening her hold on the controls of the fighter, Aayla angled her fighter upwards before diving down and towards the guard barracks. "Weapons free!"

Launching her bombs, Aayla pulled up sharply as behind her the barracks went up into flames. Banking around, Aayla guided her fighter towards the western tower when something strange happened. The top level of the tower wavered and…disappeared. Exposing a pair of large manned turrets atop either tower. "Evasive action!" Aayla shouted, sending her fighter into a roll as she avoided the incoming fire from the turrets.

 _'Those certainly weren't in the mission brief.'_ Aayla cursed to herself as she pulled away sharply from the mansion.

 _ **"This is Hawk Four! I've been clipped."**_

Turning around in her seat, Aayla frowned as she saw small puffs of smoke coming out of the back of Hawk Four. "Hawk Leader to Hawk Four, it looks like you took some damage to your main thruster. Pull up and enter a holding pattern. You're done for the day."

 _ **"Damn it, roger that Hawk Leader, Hawk Four heading to holding area."**_

Losing one of her squad was a serious blow, but she didn't want to risk the pilot's life. Not to mention that flying a crippled fighter could put the rest of them at risk. Banking around slowly, Aayla took a hard look at the two turrets. There was no good way to approach them. And if they weren't taken out than the LAAT's would be sitting ducks. "Hawks One, Two and Three. Break off and head north. I'm going to draw the fire of those two towers to the south as I make a run for the guard shack. Once I've got their attention swing in and take them out."

 _ **"Copy that Hawk Leader. Falling back and waiting for your run."**_

Taking hold of the stick with both hands, Aayla closed her eyes and opened herself to the Force. 'Passion, yet peace. Serenity, yet emotion. Chaos, yet order.' Opening her eyes, she let go and let the Force guide her as she flew low enough to nearly scrape the ground.

Her fighter tilted and flipped as she avoided the rain of ballistic bullets coming from the towers. _'Never thought I'd miss turbo lasers_.' Aayla thought to herself as she barrel rolled her fighter between. She was so close she could actually see the dozen or so soldiers that were running across the roof top. Unfortunately for those soldiers though, the towers that'd been tracking her movements didn't stop firing, even when they were pointed towards the roof and their own men.

Two loud detonations resonated from behind her, and she risked a glance back in time to see the two towers go up in flames. " _ **Hawk One to Hawk Leader, both towers are neutralized!"**_

"Good job Nighthawks." Aayla congratulated her squadron as she zeroed in on the last of their targets. A single pull of the trigger later and the guard house went up in flames. "Nighthawks, climb to one-thousand feet and enter into holding pattern. Master Nox. The towers are neutralized and you are clear to make your assault. May the Force be with you."

* * *

Raising the glass to his lips, Vlad Sanguine drank deeply of the rich red blood filling his goblet. Once he'd drained the cup of its entirety, he passed the empty goblet off to the thrall kneeling at his feet. "Fill it again."

Without a word, one of his many thralls moved up the dais towards him and took his goblet before fleeing quickly. Repressing a wince, Vlad tilted his head from side to side as he attempted to crack his neck. Greengrass had been more…formidable than he'd anticipated. Sure he lost a few of his coven, and that had been expected. But he had not anticipated that Greengrass would dare use such a spell as the one he had.

He'd just barely managed to avoid the hellfire, unlike almost all of the others he'd brought with him. But even though he managed to survive, he didn't do it unscathed. He'd been unable to participate in the hunts over the past week due to the fact that he'd been swimming in a pool of blood trying to heal the burns that'd been inflicted upon him.

Just as his thrall was returning with a full chalice, his entire throne room's silence was shuttered as dust fell from the ceiling. _'Hmm, it seems that she has come at last._ ' Vlad thought with a grin as his sensitive ears picked up the sounds of explosions coming from the manor house above him.

Unlike the fools in the magical world, Vlad kept apprised of everything going on in the muggle world. Because of that, he knew that Nox was probably one, if not the, most powerful women in the world in terms of both her influence in the business world and even the political world. She had access to technology and weapons that most governments didn't even have. And if word was to be believed; she was also creating her own personal army.

"Dread Lord!" One of his fellow vampires shouted, running into the throne room and prostrating himself before Vlad. "We are under attack!"

Vlad didn't bother to hide his annoyance as he addressed the kneeling vampire. "I am well aware of that Kraven." Vlad growled. "This was expected. Now seal the catacombs. We will weather this attack as we have done in the past."

He would've preferred to simply fight and turn any who were worthwhile into his thralls or even fellow vampires. But the simple matter was that the attacks that he and his coven have flinging on the wizarding world had dwindled his already limited numbers. And he wasn't quite willing to risk the entirety of his coven on the whims of a trumped up Dark Lord.

Kraven's head snapped up, his eyes wide. "Dread Lord…there are still some of our brethren on the surface! Plus the Dayguards…and thralls. Shouldn't we-"

To the normal eye, Vlad simply disappeared from his throne and reappeared in front of Kraven. "Do not question me Kraven." Vlad growled, grabbing a fist full of the man's shirt and picking him clear off the ground. "We have enough fresh stock and magically preserved blood to last us for a century. Now seal the fucking catacombs before I decide to add you to the supplies."

Letting go, Kraven scrambled away as soon as his feet hit the ground as he sprinted to see that Vlad's orders were carried out. _'Fools. The lot of them._ ' Vlad thought, turning back to his throne. _'Come Nox. You will find only disappointment here.'_

* * *

Staring down at the slightly burning building below them Nox felt more than a little smug. This was the first time that her soldiers, her pilots and by extension her fighters were being used in tandem. And so far they were not disappointing. Both towers were completely gone. The barracks were gone as was the guard house at the gate. The one thing that truly put her on edge though was the suspicious lack of living bodies on the roof.

"Ten seconds to drop point!"

Drawing both her wand and lightsaber into her open hands, Nox opened the sliding door of the LAAT and calmly stepped out. The air rushed by as Nox freefell through the air before she slowed her descent just enough to land softly on the roof. Several soft footfalls came from around her as the rest of the Guardian Masters dropped out of their transports. Followed shortly after by heavier footfalls as the soldiers dropped out of their transports.

Scanning the roof, Nox frowned as she failed to find any opposition. The only guards that were there to greet them were the dead. Turning her head slightly, she watched as Master Vos and his squad all descended onto the roof, looking just as confused as Nox felt at the lack of opposition. 'There is no way that our fighters got all of them.'

Kneeling down, Nox placed her hand on the roof of the building. " _Omnes Videntes."_

She couldn't help the grin from forming on her face as her vision pulsed, illuminating half a dozen lifeforms hiding just within either entry points leading from the roof and into the now-ruined towers. "They've set up ambush points just within either entrance. Not bad for being caught with their pants down." Nox explained, rising to her feet. "Master Vos, take your squad and head for the east entrance and work your way down."

"You got it." Quinlan half-saluted before motioning for his squad to follow him as they moved towards the opposite end of the roof.

Making her way towards the door nearest to them, Nox took a moment to examine the door and the wall. Raising her wand, she cast a few charms on the wall to reinforce it. "General, how many grenades, actual grenades, do you and your men have?"

"Two frag grenades. Two Incendiary grenades. And two sun grenades each ma'am."

"Have two frag grenades at the ready." Nox told the General, turning around and leaning her back against the door. "After all…we wouldn't want to disappoint them by not responding to their trap now would we?"

Rex nodded, first to her and then two others of his men as he and the other troopers reached down to their belts and pulled out one of their grenades. Pointing her wand at the door, Nox let out a powerful blasting curse that reduced the door, and its frame, to nothing more than splinters. Rex and his troopers were hot on her heels as both lobbed their grenades into the new opening before the dust could even begin to settle. Both went off just on the other side of the opening, destroying anything and everything that was on the other side of the door.

 _"Omnes Videntes."_

This time when her vision pulsed, all she could see were dead bodies scattered throughout the interior of the stairway. "I guess that's one way to make an entrance." Obi-Wan commented dryly. "They teach you that at the Sith Academy?"

"Of course." Nox smiled as she activated her lightsaber and moved towards the hole in the wall. "It was the first class of the day. Shock and awe. Right after murder and mayhem one-oh-one. Well then ladies and gentlemen shall we? We have vampire clan to exterminate. And daylight is wasting."

* * *

Sitting on a tree branch a fair distance away from the castle, Harry watched in his phoenix form as Master Secura led her wing of fighters on two strafing runs. After watching the tower fall and seeing the two LAATs quickly approaching from the ocean, Harry let out a low trill as he spread his wings and with two powerful flaps he was airborne and sailing towards the back of the castle while behind him the rest of his little team took the air.

There were two guards at the rear entrance, both of whom were looking around frantically and seemed to be arguing with one another about what was going on. Angling himself upwards, Harry took advantage of their distraction to fly almost directly above them before turning in midair and shifting. Still in the air; Harry drew his lightsaber and twisted his body creating a cyclone with his lightsaber that went clean through each man's neck before he tucked his body in and landed safely on his feet.

Six soft thumps on the ground told him that the girls had all landed behind him and shifted back into their normal forms. Turning around, he looked at each of his girls in turn. Ahsoka looked completely calm and composed. Not surprising considering she'd already been fighting on the front lines of a galactic war for years. Ginny, who'd already bloodied herself during Ahsoka's rescue mission, barely gave the two corpses a second glance. Susan's face was completely neutral, but Harry could sense just the slightest touch of excitement under her calm façade. Luna appeared complete non-repulsed, in fact she looked completely at ease. Hermione however, while she put on a brave face he could tell that she was slightly put off by the sight of the two dead bodies lying at his feet.

"Don't hesitate." Harry told them as he pointed his wand at the back door.

Just before could cast a spell, the door was flung open. "The Dark Lord just told us to stay here and report on their success! He didn't tell us…to…"

Two black robed men with their hoods down stood in the now open door, staring confusedly at Harry and the six girls. Overcoming his surprise, Harry slashed his wand across his body, throwing a powerful banishing curse at the two men. Both men were thrown back into the house, stopping only when they crashed into the wall opposite the door with enough force to leave perfect human shaped indents.

Daphne and Susan were on them immediately, lightsabers drawn, activated and ready to cut the two down. "Wait!" Harry called out quickly, stopping the three. "Mother wants anyone from Voldemort, and I dare say that these two fit the profile."

Daphne and Susan didn't appear too pleased, but both pulled back and made way as Harry walked forward and hit both men with a stunning curse just to make sure that they would stay out. However when he started to conjure up ropes to secure them, Hermione stepped past him and pointed her wand at the two unconscious men while muttering a spell under her breath. Both men were immolated as fire coursed over their bodies. But instead of burning the two to a crisp, like Harry had feared, the flames simply died out after destroying anything and everything the two men were wearing. Leaving both in their birthday suits.

"Well Hermione." Luna said airily, openly admiring the two men on the ground while Hermione turned redder than Ginny's hair. "If you wanted to know what men look like, I could've given you a few books of mine. Although I must say, these two don't really 'stack up' to the ones in my books. Although I guess that it is a little chilly out."

"I-I didn't mean it like that!" Hermione snapped. "I just– well Master Nox said that they carry portkeys on their bodies…and well anything can be a portkey so I just that the best course of action would be too-"

"Its fine Hermione," Harry cut across, ending Hermione's rant as he conjured up blankets to cover both men. Followed up by ropes to secure them in place. "It was a good plan."

Once both were bound and secure, Harry looked around for a place to stash the two unconscious men. Spying a door just off to his left, he raised his wand to his eyes. " _Omnes videntes."_

The spell showed two figures in the room beyond, but something was…off about them. Despite the fact that there was obviously a battle going on around them, the two were just…standing in the center of the room. Stepping back, he signaled for the girls that there were two in the room and their general location before thrusting out his hand and blowing the door off its hinges with a Force push.

Six streaks of red zipped past his head, three heading in the general direction of one figure while three headed towards the other. Both figures within the room didn't even turn around as they were hit in the back with the stunning spells and fell to the floor.

Keeping his wand in front of him, Harry entered the room and found himself standing in a large kitchen that looked as if it could feed all of Hogwarts. "Strange." Susan murmured as she stepped past him and towards the two downed individuals. "There's a battle going on upstairs…and they were making breakfast."

"They're more than likely thralls." Daphne commented, squatting down next to one.

Turning his wand in a tight circle, Harry conjured a length of rope which wrapped itself around each of the downed individuals. "We can worry about that later. Right now we need to move. The Masters are all waiting for us." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Susan talking a few steps back from something. "Susan what is…"

His question died on his lips as he saw what'd caused a veteran of a galactic war to go pale. The corner of the kitchen was covered in blood splatter. And hanging from a meat hook was a partially dissected human. "Oh my god." Hermione gagged. "I think I'm going to be sick…"

Bringing his wand up, Harry threw a cutting curse to sever the chain before conjuring a blanket and throwing it over the corpse. "We have a job to do." Harry said, trying his best to keep his voice even. "Hermione, Susan. Take these two out into the hall and place them with our two resident Death Eaters then secure the area and wait. Everyone else with me."

Heading back out into the hall, Harry kept his wand at the ready while keeping his lightsaber deactivated. _'It sounds like they're using ballistic weaponry_.' Harry thought as they advanced towards the sound of gunfire. ' _Have to use wands for the time being.'_

Strangely enough, outside of the obvious sounds of fighting coming from further in the house they encountered zero resistance as they swept through the first floor and headed towards where Harry knew the foyer was located thanks to the blueprints that Bill had managed to provide for them.

As they came upon a hall that would lead them directly to their objective, Harry jerked to a stop and jumped back into cover. "Shit." He muttered before turning towards the girls. "It looks like all the guards that are left are making one last stand in the foyer."

Raising his wand to his eyes, he poked his head just slightly out of cover. _"Omnes videntes."_

The pulse showed where each of the guards were on the lower levels as well as where the Guardian troopers and Masters were up on the second floor. "How does it look?" Ahsoka asked as he pulled his head back.

"The guards are using whatever they can as barricades on the first floor." Harry explained. "My mother's squad and Master Vos' squad have them caught in a pincer, but they can't get a clear shot because of their barricades. If we can flush them out though, then those on the second floor will have a clear shot at them."

"Okay, sounds easy enough," Ginny shrugged, peeking around the corner. "Um…how exactly are we going to be doing this?"

"Oh you Gryffindors…never thinking with the head on your shoulders." Luna sighed, summoning what looked like some sort of decorative rock from a table before using her wand to etch a patterns into its surface.

"Hey! I resent that!" Harry grumbled.

"I stand by what she said." Daphne shot back, before turning to Luna. "So what are you doing?"

Ahsoka however, was leaning over Luna's shoulder watching what she was doing. "Um, Luna. I know I'm not well versed in runes…but that doesn't look like anything to me. Just a bunch of…runes clustered together."

"Quite right." Luna nodded. "It's an unstable rune matrix. And what happens to unstable rune matrixes?" Using her wand to hover the rock she brought it around the corner before banishing it down the hall. A loud boom detonated from down the hall as the guards cried it in alarm, only to be quickly silenced. "They explode."

Shaking his head, Harry looked around the corner again. The barricades that the guards had been using were destroyed and all the guards were dead. "You know Luna." Harry said slowly, shaking his head. "Sometimes you scare me."

* * *

Pacing back and forth in front of the two freshly revived Death Eaters, Nox tapped her wand against the palm of her hand as she favored the two with a smirk while around her the former-Jedi, Amelia, Sirius, Xeno and General Rex looked on. At her invitation of course.

The short skirmish had actually gone incredibly well. Not only did they manage to take the mansion with no casualties, they also managed to avoid any injuries as well. And once the fight was over they managed to bring in their reinforcements without issue and now while the troopers were making sweeps through the mansion looking for any holdouts. While they were doing that, Bill and Fleur were hard at work disabling the seal over the catacombs. Although judging by the look on Bill's face when he started examining the entrance point, the vampires had obviously done something to the goblin wards and it would take him sometime to undo it.

"Well? Are you going to get on with it bitch!? We don't have all day!"

Stopping, Nox cocked an eyebrow at the Death Eater who'd spoken. The two were almost night and day from one another. The one who'd just spoken had an air of confidence and power to him. While the other…well Nox was pretty sure that he was about to lose control of his bladder at any moment.

Stopping in front of the man who'd spoke, she knelt down so that the two were at eye level with one another. "Now that isn't a very nice thing to say to a lady."

The man's eyes only hardened. "Fuck you bitch."

"Sorry," Nox chuckled, reaching out and patting the man on the cheek. "But you're not my type. But if you want this to be over with, I can comply with that request. All that you have to do is tell me why Voldemort sent the two of you here instead of keeping you both by his side. And what his next plan of action is."

The cowardly man actually flinched at the name while the one with some measure of spine went red in the face. "You dare say his name you mudblood bitch!"

"Of course I do." Nox shrugged. "Besides it's not even his name. It's just an anagram. But back to the topic at hand. Why did Voldemort send the two of you here and what is next move?"

The man with a spine smirked. "Do whatever you like to us. We won't tell you a thing."

"I see. Such a shame." Nox sighed, standing up. "Master Fay. Would you like to do the honors? I think this one with the mouth is a good place to start."

Nodding, the ageless Master walked past Nox and took up her vacated spot kneeling at eye level with the man. The silence stretched on as the two did nothing more than stare at one another. The corners of Master Fay's eyes tightened ever so slightly as the man with the mouth twitched his head. "What are you trying to do half-breed bitch?" The man growled. "If you think that you can get past my barriers…then you're as dumb as a-"

"You are nothing but hate and bile rolled together." Master Fay murmured softly. "Any light within you has been crushed. There is nothing by darkness within your mind, body and soul."

Small droplets of perspiration beaded across the man's brow. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Closing her eyes, Fay reached out and pressed her index fingers against the man's temples. "Your Master does not care about you." Fay muttered as the man began to twitch. "You know this. He sent you here to die. You have doubts about him. His cause. But you do not care. The darkness within you only cares about how much pain you can inflict on others."

The man's whole body started twitching as he struggled to break free. "Get out of my head bitch! Get out now before– Ah!"

The man gave off a blood curdling scream as his head was wrenched back out of Fay's grip as his back arched to an unnatural angle. What happened next surprised even Nox as while the man was screaming blood began seeping out from his eyes, his ears, his nose and his mouth. If not for the wards that she'd placed around the room, she was sure that his screams would've alerted even the vampires in the catacombs beneath them. Shaak Ti took two steps forward to help the man, but faltered when blood started streaming out of his eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Nearly a full minute later the man's cries died out as his body fell lifelessly to the floor.

Walking up to the corpse, Nox reached out with her foot and lightly kicked at the man's leg. His presence in the Force was completely gone. "Well…that was different." Nox murmured, turning to look at Sirius, Amelia and Xeno. "Any ideas you three?"

"He must've had a trigger imbedded in his mind." Xeno answered, walking forward and kneeling next to the man's bloodied head before poking it with the tip of his wand. "You usually see this sort of thing with deeply imbedded spies. It's to prevent anyone from forcibly extracting information out of the mind. If the trigger senses an intrusion, the mind will self-destruct."

"Is there any way to detect these…triggers?" Master Ti asked, staring dispassionately down at the body.

"No." Xeno answered, flicking his wand off to the side to clean the blood off of it. "And it doesn't have to be a mental intrusion also. Some triggers are tied into the chemical reaction that occurs in the brain upon the consumption of veritaserum. Although the question that we should be asking is who placed the trigger in this man's mind. Did he do it? Or did Voldemort?"

All eyes turned to their remaining prisoner, who had in fact voided his bladder all over the front of himself. "Well?" Nox asked, stepping up to the man and making him flinch. "We do have a spare. And I sincerely doubt that this one has the ability to create one of these triggers. So if his brain turns to mush then we'll know that Voldemort is starting to take extra precautions."

"The Dark Lord placed them!" The man shouted, trying to avoid Nox's outstretched hand by leaning back. "He– he called us to stand before him before sending us here. He said…he said that he was placing safeguards in our minds to protect us from the vampire's enthrallment! He never said anything about these triggers!"

"That's just low." Sirius mumbled. "Even by his standards."

"Apparently he's starting to take extra precautions." Nox mused, touching a finger to her lips. "I suppose this might be my fault. The first time I encountered one of this Death Eaters I took as much information as I could from his mind. Learned a great deal about Voldemort and his original plans. Apparently Voldemort is looking to prevent me from repeating my actions."

"Well this will cause a problem for future interrogations if this Dark Lord does this to all of his followers." Kenobi mused, rubbing at his beard before turning towards Xeno. "Can he place these triggers on anyone?"

"No." Xeno answered. "The mind will naturally resist them. Even the most skilled legilimencers cannot place such a trigger without consent of the intended. Of course he doesn't need to actually tell them what he's doing. He just needs to say that he's placing safeguards in their mind and that would do. A skilled occlumens would be to detect what was done and counter it. But I fear that these are few and far between."

"That does create a problem." Nox hummed as she resumed her pacing. After completing several laps around the room, she came to a stop in front of their last remaining Death Eater. "I don't suppose that you would be willing to tell us just why Voldemort sent you here and what he plans on doing next would you? Or shall we take out chances with how careful I can be about avoiding the trigger in your mind?"

The man whimpered. "The Dark Lord didn't tell us his plans! I swear it! He- he doesn't tell anyone what he's planning. He just…he just stays secluded and mumbles to himself. That's it! I swear to you that's it!"

Nox stared down at the prisoner. "I believe you." Her words made the man heave a sigh of relief. "Now, why did he send you two here?"

The man licked his lips. "We were– we were overseeing the abductions and attacks by the vampires and reporting back to the Dark Lord on their success or failures."

"Makes sense." Nox mused. _'He would want to know just how much chaos was being inflicted._ ' Kneeling down again in front of the Death Eater, Nox used the tip of her wand to lift up the sleeve of his conjured robe revealing the magical mark branded into his flesh. "Why don't you tell us all how you got that mark?" She asked. "And don't try to lie to me. I'll know if you're lying to me. And you won't like the consequences."

The Death Eater, who'd just begun to calm down, started sweating profusely once again. "I– I- please…don't kill me! Have mercy please!"

Getting up, Nox began circling the Death Eater, trailing her hand along his shoulder. "I promise that I won't harm you should you tell us what one has to do to earn that mark."

The man broke and started sobbing. "He…he was only a muggle."

That got the attention of the former-Jedi in the room as his implication became clear. "Details man." Nox said, clapping him on either shoulder and making him jump slightly. "What did you do to earn that mark?"

Tears were flowing freely down his face as Nox came back around to face him. "I- we have to show our…our dedication to…to Him. A muggle is brought before us and…and we have to use the Unforgivable Curses on them." The man paused, but when no one spoke up he pressed on. "I– I used the Imperius Curse and made him cut off his own fingers. Then…then I used the Cruciatus Curse until his mind broke. And then…then I killed him with the Killing Curse." The man nearly shaking with in terror by the time he finished as all of the former-Jedi in the room looked ready to strike him down where he sat. "Please…please have mercy! All Death Eaters need to perform the same feat in order to receive their mark! Please…please don't kill me."

Smiling kindly, Nox patted the man on his cheek. "Doesn't it feel better to get that off of your chest?" She asked rhetorically. "And don't worry. I'm a woman of my word. And I won't kill you. Madam Bones?"

Amelia's heels sounded like hammers as she stepped forward, taking Nox's place in front of the prisoner. The Head of the DMLE's face looked like it'd been carved from stone as she stared unforgivingly down at the cowering man. "What is your name?"

The man soiled himself, again, as he wilted under Amelia's gaze. "Uther Mural."

"Uther Mural." Amelia echoed. "Of House Mural. A notoriously Dark family that was expelled from the Wizengamot two hundred years ago. Under the authority of the DMLE I hereby find you guilty, by your own admission, of association with a known terrorist organization known as the Death Eaters. You are also hereby found guilty, again by your own admission, of using the Unforgivable Curses to maim, torture and kill a muggle. The penalty these crimes is death by way of the Veil of Death."

The man broke down completely. "Please! Please have mercy! I– I have information! I can give names! Whatever you want! Just…just please show mercy!"

Amelia's eyes remained hard as ice despite the man's pleas. "I might be able to lessen your sentence to a life sentence in Azkaban. However you must be willing to go public with names of known Death Eaters."

Uther lowered his head. "They'll kill me."

Amelia merely shrugged. "The choice yours of course. A lifetime sentence in Azkaban for your testimony dissecting every aspect of the Death Eaters that you know. Or you can meet your end at the Veil of Death."

Uther shuddered. "Promise me that I'll be protected in Azkaban. I don't want my name to be known either. And…and put me in the minimum security section with the least amount of Dementor presence and…and I'll tell you everything I know."

In Nox's mind, she was already working on how to use this to her advantage. 'Xeno still has access to his printing press. Perhaps we can get his testimonial out with his publication. Not very many people read his magazine. But if we print enough copies someone and flood the streets with them it might just be enough to start turning the tide of the public's opinion.'

"One more thing." Master Kenobi said, striding forward. "You said that you were here to oversee the abductions. Are all the ones that are taken here within the mansion?"

The man hesitated. "Only the muggleborns. The squibs were– Ah!"

The man's head snapped back as blood began pouring from all of the orifices on his head just like it did with the other Death Eater. However unlike the other…Uther did not go quickly. His body thrashed violently as his fingernails began clawing at his skin.

"We need to stop it!" Nox yelled, grabbing the man's head in both of his hands and blunt forcing her way into his mind trying to salvage whatever she could.

But unfortunately she was far too late. But the time she actually managed to find what was causing the damage, Uther Mural had died. "Fuck!" Nox cursed loudly, rising to her feet and advancing on Xeno. "I thought you said that it would only trigger when the mind was invaded!"

For the first time since she'd known him, Xeno actually looked troubled. "Usually that is the case. But apparently Voldemort is taking more precautions than before." He said, his eyes meeting hers. "You should feel honored. He actually truly considers you a threat."

"He did give us something." Master Fay stated. "He said that only these…muggleborns are here with the vampires. Those you call squibs are not. Which means that this Dark Lord wanted them. Why would he want them?"

"Given who he is, Merlin only knows." Sirius sighed. "But given what we've just learned…he might need prisoners for when he starts recruiting to replenish his ranks."

"A mystery for another time." Nox said with a note of finality as she lowered the wards that she'd placed around the room before opening the door with a wave of her hand. Standing just on the other side of the door, with his hand poised to knock, was her son. "What is it Harry?"

Harry's eyes bounced off of the two corpses in the room before coming back to her. "Bill wanted me to inform you that he and Fleur have almost finished breaking the wards." He informed them, seemingly completely uncaring about the two dead bodies in the room. "We'll be able to head down into the catacombs soon."

"Good." She responded, turning her back on the corpses and marching out of the room.

 _'This can still be used to our advantage._ ' She thought, wandering into the foyer where the rest of the assault team, witches and wizards were gathered around Bill and Fleur as they waved their wands of the shield that'd been engraved into the floor just before the stairs. The only ones not present were the Apprentices she'd on purposely left behind as well as Master Yoda, Arthur, Molly, the Abbotts, Cedric, Viktor and Richard Davis.

"Any luck?" Tonks asked, sidling up next to her as she watched as Bill and Fleur work.

"Yes and no." Nox answered honestly. "Unfortunately both had kill triggers placed in their minds by Voldemort and kicked the bucket before they could provide us with anything useful."

Tonks just shook her head. "And just when I think that wanker can't get any lower he continues to lower the bar."

A loud crack echoed throughout the foyer as all of the troopers raised their weapons, loaded with UV rounds, towards the shield on the floor. In tandem with Bill's and Fleur's backwards steps, the entrance to the catacombs slowly opened as the shield on the floor split in two right down the middle. Revealing a long flight of winding stairs lined with dim lights. "General. I believe proper etiquette dictates that we announce ourselves." Nox asked, cocking an eyebrow at the clone.

Rex nodded back to her, reaching down for one of his two sun grenades. "Gregor…let's announce ourselves."

The sun grenades were a creation by Xeno had thought up to disperse a wide area of waiting vampires. Relying on the same principles of their UV bullets the grenades were contained in a glass spear that would break at a 5 seconds after being activated. Activating their grenades, the two clones threw the glass spheres down the stairs. The glass spheres bounced down the stairs and out of sight. Five seconds after they were activated, cries of alarm could be heard coming from down the stairs as light brighter than the sun came up from the winding stairs.

Activating her lightsaber, Nox took point without a word and made her way down the winding stairs. A full turn down the stairs and the smell of burnt flesh assaulted her nose. It wasn't hard to find the source of the smell. At the base of the stairs as the path began to widen and split off in different directions were three bodies that'd been burned beyond the point of recognition. "I must say Xeno." Nox stated as Rex led his squad past her, their weapons raised and ready. "You and the twins certainly outdid yourselves with this one."

"Well, I do aim to impress Madam Nox." Xeno replied with a touch of smugness.

"And you've succeeded." Nox shot back before noticing that Amelia and Sirius had come down the stairs. "Amelia, Sirius. I want you and your wizards to head back upstairs and hold the entrance. If anyone, and I mean anyone, comes up from down here without us present you're to stun first and ask questions later is that understood?"

Both of them looked like they wanted to protest her orders, but one stern look from Nox, as well as a quick glance down at Amelia's midriff, was enough to silence whatever protests they might've had. "Alright." Amelia sighed. "Come on, let's head back upstairs."

Once the wizards and witches had retreated back up the stairs, leaving only the Guardians and their troopers, Nox rolled her shoulders as a thrill went up her spine. ' _Two battles in less than two weeks…how I have missed this feeling.'_ "Break up into your assigned groups." Nox called out, heading towards the path that would lead her down to the lowest level of the catacombs. "Let's hunt some bloodsuckers."

* * *

Changing out the clip from his weapon, Dan Granger stared down at the disintegrating corpse that he'd just put down. _'Well…Nox wasn't wrong_.' He thought, loading a round into the chamber. ' _These UV rounds are certainly effective. Two shots and these creatures literally melt from the inside out.'_

"Commander Granger, are you alright sir?"

Next to him, the young man Harry Potter was nodding down towards the large gash across his arm. Unlike their guards on the surface, the vampires appeared to prefer hand to hand or edged weapon combat. And while that would usually give anyone with a firearm the advantage, the sheer speed in which these creatures moved made it next to impossible to get clear line on them. Hence how one had managed to dodge his shots and get close enough to claw at him.

"I'll live," Dan nodded, looking down at the wound. "As long as you tell me that I'm not about to turn into one of those things like they do in the movies."

"No." Harry answered honestly. "The virus is only transmitted through their bites. Not their claws."

"Good to know." Dan nodded, putting one last round into the vampire that'd managed to claw him. Just to make sure it was dead of course. "Lead on kid."

 _'Although I suppose that calling him a kid isn't really all that accurate_.' Dan thought as Harry, his Apprentice, Ginny, and the alien girl Ahsoka once again took point. _'He's unbelievably skilled. As are those two girls with them. I think each of them have killed just as many of these vampires with their laser swords as our whole squad has. Not to mention they all have an aura about them that demands respect. A lot like some generals that I've met. And just to think…my little girl is not too far behind him_. _So much for pulling the tough dad act when she finally brings a boyfriend home._ '

Thinking of Hermione made him wish for a moment that she wasn't with another group instead of with him. But he could understand Nox's thinking in separating the two of them. He would've been distracted had he been with his daughter. "Hold up." Harry called out as they reached what looked like a vault door.

"Well, if my experience has taught me anything a big door like this is usually here for a reason." Ahsoka murmured, tapping a finger to her lips while examining the door. "Wonder what they could be hiding."

"Only one way to find out." Harry said while raising his lightsaber and plunging the blade into the door up to the hilt.

The area around his incision point began to redden almost immediately before slowly turning white as Harry rotated his sword within the metal door. Bit by bit, the door began to melt away, forming a pile of molten metal on the floor. "There we go." Harry announced suddenly, pulling his lightsaber out of the door. "Think I got the lock. Ginny, Ahsoka? Mind helping me move this hunk of metal out of the way."

The two girls stood on either side of Harry and together the three of them raised their hands. Metal grinding against metal ground through the hall, ended only by something snapping loudly. Turning their palms towards them, the large vault like door slid out from its place. As one Delta squad raised their weapons, ready for whatever might be on the other side. But no one was prepared for what awaited them as the three tossed the easily one ton metal door aside as if it were weightless.

What awaited them in the next room didn't belong anywhere besides in a house of horrors. The unmistakable coppery smell of blood assaulted his nose. Cages, no bigger than a dog kennel, were lining either wall stacked two high. Each of which had a person stuffed inside like they were an animal. But what drew his attention immediately was the table in the center of the room and the woman wearing a white lab coat standing next to it. "What– how… that's impossible! Shite!"

The woman screamed as she ran towards the back of the room. Dan didn't hesitate as he raised his weapon and fired off a single round into the retreating woman's back. The round struck her in the shoulder blades, but unlike before instead of her skin instantly blackening and starting to smolder, the woman merely feel the ground screaming in pain alive and unburned. 'She's human.'

Moving into the room with everyone else, Dan took the time to exam each cage and its occupants. They were all alive…but they all looked drugged out of their minds. _'Good lord…they even have children in here!'_

"Medic! Now!"

Snapping around, Dan found Harry standing beside the table. On top of which, held in placed with half a dozen crisscrossing straps, was a struggling young man with a feeding tube shoved down his throat. It took him a second to realize why Harry had called for a medic, but as he looked down at the table the young man was laying on it became obvious. Both of his wrists were cut. And blood was free flowing out of wounds, down the table and into a drainage tube near the man's head.

"Don't touch him!" The squad's medic yelled as Harry pointed his wand towards the cut's on his wrist.

"He's bleeding!" Harry shouted back.

"Anyone with eyes can see that Knight." The medic shot back, shouldering Harry off to the side. "But if you heal those wounds you'll kill him. As it is…it may already be too late."

"What do you mean?" Ahsoka asked shakily, her eyes going back and forth between the bleeding young man, whose eyes were rolled up into the back of his head. "What are they doing to him?"

"Harvesting his blood." The medic responded, pulling out a wand and waving it over the body. "I was a Healer at St Mungo's before I was turned. I've seen this type of thing before. They cut open the wrists to drain the body of blood, then they force feed the victim a constant small stream of blood replenishing potion and a few other potions. The victim can stay alive for a full day or more, bleeding out. Through this process the vampires can harvest nearly a hundred liters of blood from a single victim before they expire. If we're not too late then we can save him, but he needs to keep bleeding for now."

"And if we are too late?" Dan heard himself ask.

"We'll know right away." The medic said without emotion grabbing hold of the tube that was shoved down the man's throat. "And he's already dead."

Yanking the tube out of the man's mouth, the young man gurgled in agony as blood started shooting up from his mouth like a fountain. "Fuck!" The medic shouted, taking a step back and pointing his wand at the young man's chest. " _Avada Kedavra_!"

A green streak of light leapt from the medic's wand and into the young man's chest. The young man's struggles ceased as his body went limp and the fountain of blood pouring from his mouth slowed to only a trickle. "Why did you do that?!" Harry shouted, rounding on the medic.

"Because he was already dead Knight Potter!" The medic shouted back, staring back unflinchingly into Harry's black and green eyes. "He drowned in his own blood. His mind and heart just hadn't' caught onto the fact yet that he was dead. Believe me, if there was a way to save him, I would've done so. He must've been hooked up like this for at least a full day or more. The pain he must've endured…it's unimaginable."

A low moan drew everyone's attention as he woman Dan had shot tried to weakly crawl across the floor. Blood and irradiated liquid streaming out of the wound on her back. Harry's gaze hard as he reached out with one hand. The woman's body went stiff as she was lifted up into the air and spun around to face them, her feet dangling helplessly a few inches off the floor. "You're human." Dan hardly even recognized Harry's voice as the woman floated towards his outstretched hand. "Why the fuck would you do this!"

Harry's fingers curled inwards and the floating woman began gasping as her hands clawed at her throat. "Harry!" Ahsoka said softly, laying a hand on his outstretched arm. "You're better than this. Better than them. Don't skin to their level. Be the man I know you are."

Harry continued to glare at the woman, holding her suspended in the air by her throat. Without warning his hand opened and the woman fell to the ground, coughing and clutching at her throat. "You don't understand." The woman coughed. "I– I did what was necessary! Using this method…the vampires haven't had a need to go out and hunt! And magical blood…it sustains them longer than normal blood. What is a few dozen sacrifices when thousands are saved in the process!"

"So that's your justification for torturing and murdering innocents!" Harry yelled, advancing on the woman and making her scramble backwards to try and get away from him. "If you truly cared about saving lives…you'd be looking for a way to kill them. Not feed them." Reaching out, Harry smacked his palm against the woman's head. Her head snapped back, but Harry's hand stuck to her like glue. "No…you don't care about saving lives. It's just a lie you tell yourself. A lie you don't even believe. You just wanted to become one of them."

Letting go of the woman, Harry turned his back on her and marched back towards the exit. Pausing as he passed by the young man dead on the table. "If there was any justice in the world…you'd be on this table bleeding out for days on end." The tone in his voice was so serious that Dan honestly believed that Harry was about to do just that. "But I am not you. I am not a monster. Heal her wounds and bind her. The Temple has holding cells. We'll lock her up until we can properly sentence her for her crimes. And someone start freeing all of these people."

The squad medic stepped forward, a streak of red leaving his wand and striking the woman knocking her out cold before flipping her over and cauterizing the wound on her back. While everyone else started going around and opening cages, Dan stepped up to Harry and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You made the right choice son." Dan said, drawing Harry's black and green eyes to him. "I've seen a lot of shit in the world kid. And I've seen it drive men and women mad. But you resisted it."

Harry didn't say anything as the two held each other's gaze. "Does it ever get any easier?"

Looking around, Dan winced as he watched Ahsoka and Ginny help a young girl who couldn't have been more than five years old out of one of the cages. "If I ever find the answer to that question kid, I'll let you know."

* * *

Walking into the lowest level of the catacombs, Nox stared at the large ornate doors in front of her. She could sense the power radiating through them as she examined the crisscrossing pattern of runes etched into the wood steel. _'Hmph…impressive._ '

Activating her lightsaber, she began carving a large circle out of the door. After completing a full circle, she pulled back and then used the Force to throw the cut out section of door into the room with enough force to crush anyone who'd been dumb enough to stand in its path. And judging by the few screams she heard, she'd managed to hit at least a couple.

"You two stay here and watch the door." Nox said, spying Luna and Daphne out of the corner of her eye. "When the time has come, I'll call for you two. But right now, I can't fight him and keep an eye on you two."

Daphne looked like she wanted to say something, but after a single look from Nox she swallowed it and nodded. "Yes Master Nox."

Eyeing her knight one last time, Nox squared her shoulders and waltzed through the hole she'd made. Lavish didn't begin to describe the room beyond. Gold trim lined the walls. Marble columns lined either side inlaid with gold. The room was clean that the marble floor reflected her image almost perfectly. The only imperfection was the section of door that she'd blown into the room and the streaks of blood racing across the floor in its path. And directly across from her was a raised dais that was outfitted with a large white marble stone throne. And sitting on said throne, looking completely unconcerned with her arrival, was an old withered husk of a man. Or at least what was once human man.

Spinning her inactivated lightsaber around in her hand, Nox tsk'd as she walked down between the marble columns. "I must say…it's going to be a shame when I bury this room forever. I suppose in a hundred years or so when some archaeologist is digging around here they might actually be able to recover some of this gold."

The withered vampire, who could only be the famed Vlad Sanguine, laughed. "You assume of course that you are going to win here? Heh. How pathetic." Rising from his seat, Vlad reached to the side of his throne and pulled out a long steel sword that was nearly as tall as he was. "All of those that you've fought leading to here…mean nothing. The difference between myself and them cannot even be measured. And it will be a thousand years before you could ever think of challenging me."

Nox merely eyed the Dread Lord as he descended from his throne. "No wand?"

Stopping a dozen paces away from her, Vlad hefted his blade up and ran a finger along its edge. "Before I became Vlad Sanguine…I was just a mere muggle. Then I was turned. I bided my time, grew stronger. Learned the secrets of witches and wizards; even if I could never actually cast a spell I learned to enthrall those with magic into my service. And you'd be amazed at what I can do with just a few simple runes." Pausing, Vlad pointed his blade towards her. "You are not the first witch to underestimate me just because I cannot use magic. And you will not be the last."

Cocking one eyebrow at the man, Nox tucked her wand back into its sheath. "Very well then. Not very sporting to use magic when you cannot."

Vlad hesitated. "You are either incredibly brave or incredibly foolish to put away your best weapon against me." Sighing, Vlad rolled his shoulders. "Either way, it won't matter in the end."

The vampire moved so fast that he disappeared from her line of sight. Her arm moved without thought, activating her lightsaber and catching the edge of the steel blade against it just inches from her neck. "Impressive." Nox commented, parrying his strike away and sliding away from Vlad. "You almost got me on that one. Although I do have to admit I am surprised that your sword managed to survive. It wouldn't happen to be inlaid with unbreakable charms would it? Maybe even a rune to power the charms?"

Vlad hadn't chased after her, instead he was looking at his sword as if it had suddenly started talking to him. "Impressive Nox." Vlad complimented her. "There are few who have been able to follow my movements. Perhaps there is hope for you yet. Instead of throwing your life away, why not join me? I can make you immortal and to-"

"Let me stop you right there." Nox sighed, holding up her hand. "I have no intention of joining you. Now or ever. So just shut up and fight me."

Vlad's eyes glowed. "I see. Such a shame."

Pivoting on her heel, Nox let the vampire that had tried to sneak up on her pass her by. Once she was around fully, she held out her hand and let loose a volley of Force lightning. Only instead of its normal white-blue color…her lightning was green. The vampire that'd tried to attack her screamed in agony as the lightning struck him full in the back. He didn't just fall over head. His entire body simply disintegrated.

 _'Huh_ ,' Nox thought, sparing a quick glance down at her hand. _'That was different.'_

She had no time to ponder what had just happened though, as Vlad had taken advantage of her momentary hesitancy to close the distance between the two of them. Bringing her lightsaber up into a high guard, Nox deflected his strike before sweeping down and making Vlad dance backwards to avoid her lightsaber going through his chest.

Vlad was good, there was no doubt about that. The man had obviously not been idle during his life. He was quick, both with his counters and his attacks. Nox found herself alternating back and forth between Soresu, which she'd spent the past few months refining against Master Kenobi, and Ataru to keep the man on his heels. And even with the Force to guide her, it was all that she could do to keep up with him.

After trading blows with the man for several minutes, Nox used the Force to push herself away from him before hitting him with a bout of white-blue Force lightning. Vlad crossed his arms in front of him to defend himself, and besides scorching his coat little else happened to him. But as she kept the pressure up on her attack, she could just vaguely make out what looked like bracers of some sort underneath the arms of his robe. _'Hmm, interesting. Some sort of either magical repressor or absorption point. Either way, a trick like that only works once.'_

Abandoning her attack, she grabbed hold of the piece of the door that she'd cut out earlier and pulled it across the room to sweep Vlad's legs out from underneath him. With a cry, Vlad fell backwards, crashing into the floor with enough force to dent the stone beneath him. Leaping up, Nox swung down at her downed opponent, only to have her strike be blocked as Vlad managed to get his own blade around him in time. By the time she managed to land, Vlad had sprung back up to his feet and was once again advancing on her like a man possessed.

Nox had to rely heavily on Soresu as she blocked a flurry of attacks from Vlad, all of which were coming at her almost faster than the eye could follow. As the fight wore on, Vlad's patience waned as his movements started to become more erratic. "Die you pathetic bitch!"

Lunging out, Vlad made to spear her. But he over extended his thrust leaving Nox more than enough time to swipe down with her own lightsaber aiming not for his blade, but for his wrists. Her blood-red blade cleaved through flesh and bone as if there were nothing, removing both of the vampire's hands and as his sword clattered uselessly to the ground. Before the man could utter a single cry, Nox spun again, this time aiming low as she circled around and sliced through the man's legs just above his knees. Then with a thrust of her hand, Nox sent the Dread Lord flying backwards and into his throne.

Picking up his fallen sword with the Force, Nox then sent the metal blade flying through the air as fast as a blaster bolt and into Vlad's chest, taking care not to actually pierce the man's heart. Within the space of a few heartbeats, the most feared vampire in Europe had had his hands cut off, his legs removed, been thrown back into his throne and had been pinned there through the use of his own sword piercing his chest.

Vlad though, merely looked down at his current predicament as if it was a mere nuisance and nothing more. "I suppose that you are expecting me to beg for my life now?"

"No. Your life is not mine to take." Nox answered simply, deactivating her lightsaber. "You two can come in now."

Stepping around the ruined door, Daphne marched into the room with a smiling Luna right behind her. Luna looked around in awe at her surroundings, but Daphne had narrowed her eyes on the vampire lord pinned to his own throne.

Sheathing her lightsaber into her holster, Nox walked up to Daphne and put a hand on her shoulder. "He's all yours." She said before moving back to stand with Luna, giving Daphne a clear line at the vampire.

It took a long time for Daphne to reach the throne, as each step she took towards the vampire was slow and calculated. When she finally reached the base of the dais, Daphne merely stared upwards at the Dread Lord. "Do you know who I am?" She asked, her voice completely devoid of all emotion.

Vlad glared down at her, hoping to intimidate her. He failed. "I assume you're the brat of some fucker that I've killed over the years." Vlad shrugged. "What does it matter? I'm still going to tear your throat out. Although…you are rather pretty. In a few years you might even be considered beautiful. How about you let me go and I can grant you the greatest gift of all. Immortality. And a place at my side as my queen."

Even with how far away she was from the two of them, Nox could see the echoes within the Force as the Dread Lord spoke. _'Interesting. So this is a vampire's "enthrallment". Too bad I won't be able to study it in-depth. It could prove useful. And he's a fool to think that he can freely mess with the emotions of one such as Daphne. Who literally lives in emotion.'_

True to her predictions, nothing happened. At least nothing that Vlad had been expecting as Daphne tilted her head to the side. "Interesting. Is this a vampire's enthrallment? It's tied into your voice. Most interesting."

Vlad blinked as he realized that his attempt at enthrall the girl had failed. "Unfortunately though, sensing and messing with emotions could be considered my forte." Daphne said loudly, showing off the ring on her right hand as she took a single step up the dais. "My name is Daphne Greengrass." Another step up. "Daughter to Cyrus Greengrass." Another step up and she was standing right in front of the vampire, close enough to touch. "And daughter to Evelyn Greengrass."

Vlad's eyes bounced off the ring and back to Daphne's face. "So you're the daughter of Cyrus huh? I expected you to be…older. And maybe a little more powerful given the way your father bragged out you before he died squealing like a stuck pig."

Nox could almost see the fury radiate off of Daphne, but as quick as it came it was gone. "Fear." Daphne's voice rang out like a gong. "You're words are full of bravado. But you're scared. More scared than you've ever been in your entire life. It's like a black hole, sucking you in and extinguishing all hope."

Vlad's eyes widened as he started to struggle against his impalement. "I'll show you the meaning of fear girl."

The hissing of Daphne's lightsaber activating echoed throughout the silent throne room as she hovered the glowing blade right next to the vampire's head. "I was planning on making this last for a long time." Daphne said emotionlessly. "I wanted you to feel the pain that I felt when you tore my parents from me. But now…now I see. You're nothing. You're just a hollow, pitiful, scared little boy. And I will not let you turn me into the very type of monster that my parents fought against."

Rearing back, Daphne thrusted her saberstaff right into the mouth of Vlad Sanguine before wrenching it up through his skull, then she pivoted and slice clean through his neck. Vlad's eyes blinked once, then his head split in half, each piece rolling away from his body in opposite directions as they fell to the ground.

Giving Daphne a moment to recover herself, Nox walked slowly to the young girl making sure that she knew that she was coming. Coming to a stop beside her, Nox stared down at the headless corpse. "You're parents would be proud of you Daphne."

The young girl's shoulders shook as she repressed a sniff. "Thank you Master Nox." Daphne said slowly, deactivating her lightsaber and turning towards Nox. "Are we done here?"

"Yes," Nox nodded as she gave Daphne a pat on the shoulder and turned the young girl towards the door just as General Rex walked through with two other soldiers. "General Rex. I take it by your presence that our cleanup operation has finished?"

The General spared a single glance at the decapitated vampire and nodded. "Yes ma'am," he saluted. "We lost two men during the assault and over a half dozen others are wounded although none of them are in critical condition. Commander Gregor is the worst of the wounded and his face is covered in second-degree burns from being too close to one of those sun grenades going off."

Nox frowned. While their loses were not nearly as high as she thought when planning this assault, losing even a single soldier was a mild set back as they did not have a large pool of well-trained reserves to pull from. "You've trained your men extremely well General," Nox congratulated Rex.

"Thank you ma'am." Rex nodded.

Leading the two girls towards the hole in the door, Nox stopped just shy of the opening. "Set the bomb to remote detonate General and then seal the room and come back up to the surface."

"Yes ma'am!" Rex saluted before turning to the two men he'd brought with him. "Well you heard her troopers! Wilson, get that bag off your back and let's finish this."

* * *

It took nearly until sun down to fully evacuate the mansion of all its prisoners. Most were in no condition to fight after their extended stay with the vampires and had requested to be sent straight to St. Mungo's while others had requested to be sent near to their old homes. Only a few had openly volunteered to join the Guardian cause. And those that did were sent along with Commander Wolffe to her recently developed manufacturing site where the troopers had been trained. Everyone who had volunteered had sworn that they were not in league with Voldemort, but Nox was still going to be making careful inquiries. If Voldemort was willing to fry the minds of his own men to keep information secret, she had no doubt that he would be willing to let one of his own suffer at the hands of the vampires in order to get one into her ranks.

"Ma'am!" General Rex saluted, walking up to her. "All civilians are evacuated and all non-Guardian Forces have evacuated back to the Temple."

"Good." Nox nodded as Kenobi, Harry, Ginny and Ahsoka made their way up to her. "Then I suppose that it's time for our resident voyeur to come out and play."

Flicking her wand off the side, she sent a stinging hex at the wall. Only it didn't hit the wall, as it impacted something just before it. Something that gave off a cry of alarm. "Damn it all lass! Ya could've just asked me to come out if you wanted to. Ya didn't have to blast me with that! And ya didn't have to aim for my bits girl!"

Harry and Ginny eyes both widened as the invisibility cloak fell away. "Professor Moody?"

The old scarred ex-Auror grumbled as he folded up his cloak. "Eh, took you two long enough."

The three younger Guardians all looked sheepishly at one another. "We were a little preoccupied."

Moody just shook his head and started limping towards them, keeping his arms out at his sides to show that he wasn't holding his wand. "No excuses! Constant vigilance! Your mum knew I was here. And so that one there and the older one that looks like your bird Potter. So why didn't you three?"

"Chastisement can wait till later Moody." Nox said, pointing her wand towards the scarred man, forcing him to stop in his tracks. "You've been hiding along the walls ever since we started evacuating. Why? Did Dumbledore send you after us? And how did you know that we would be here?"

"I ain't Dumbledore's lap dog lass. And like I told your boy there I ain't his spy either." Moody growled. "Despite what some people think. As for how I knew that you'd be here, well that was obvious. The attacks that were happening? Only occurring at night and no bodies found, all the signs of a vampire attack. And there's only one clan large enough to attack both you, your allies and the muggleborns. So I figured that you'd be coming after them here. Been staking out this compound for two days waitin for ya. Ya sure took your bloody timing getting here."

"That only answer's one of my questions Moody." Nox pressed. "Why are you here?"

Grumbling, Moody slowly reached into his cloak and pulled out a small vial before placing it on the ground. "A peace offering lass." He mumbled, taking a few steps back.

Once he was a safe distance away, Nox walked forward and, after casting several detection spells on the vial, picked it up to examine its contents. "A pensieve memory?"

"Aye," Moody growled. "Figured ya want to know what the prophecy about your boy is all about."

Nox blinked. _'So…he's offering answers to a question that has long plagued my mind._ ' "And what do you want in exchange?"

"For the moment, nothing." Moody replied, which immediately drew Nox's suspicion.

"Don't take me for a fool Moody. You want something. What is it?"

"I told you, nothing." Moody growled again. "Listen, you probably don't believe me on that front, but frankly I don't give a flying fuck. The truth is…you and your lot are probably the best option there is for taking down the Dark Lord. And I want to help."

Nox wasn't quite sure which was harder to believe. The fact that Moody was being sincere, which she could tell with just the briefest of touches with the Force. Or the fact that she actually believed him. "Then why don't you join us? As you said, we're the best choice for taking Voldemort down."

"Because I owe Dumbledore." Moody shrugged. "The old goat may have changed over the years, and not necessarily for the better. But he still saved my life back in the Second World War. I won't betray him. But…I still need to do what I can to bring Voldemort down. Plus this way, I can keep the old man from standing in your way too much."

Nox stared at Moody appraisingly. Reaching a decision, she reached into her robe and pulled out a fist size flat rock with numbers etched into its surface and tossed it onto the ground between them. "Should you ever need it, press seven-three-one-nine-zero on this rock. It will turn into a portkey and bring you to a safe that only I know the location of."

Pulling out his own wand, Moody went through the same series of spell that Nox had used before picking the stone up off the ground. "Thanks."

"Just make sure you keep your head about you Moody." Nox smirked, turning her back on him and making her way towards the waiting LAAT. "Amelia tells me that you're one of the good ones. I'd hate to lose you. Or worse. Have to kill you."

Behind them, Moody started laughing. "Haha! I like you lass! And the same goes to you as well!" Then with a crack of apparation the old Auror was gone.

Ten minutes later, Nox was standing beside her four Knights within the LAAT hovering a safe distance away from the island. A detonator in hand and ready to be used. "Daphne." She called out. When the young knight turned towards her, she held the detonator out for her to take. "Bury it."

Daphne didn't hesitate. Taking the detonator, the young woman spared the island one last glance before pressing down on the button. The entire manor shook for second before erupting in a wall of flame.

* * *

Stretching his new arm, Voldemort took his time examining his new silver appendage. It'd taken him over a week to properly grow it. And now that it was fully functional, he was actually y starting to consider altering more aspects of his body. As he contemplated the issue, Lucius barreled his way into his throne room and fell to his knees before him. "Forgive my intrusion, my Lord. But the emissaries that we sent to the Sanguine clan have not reported in this evening."

Lowering his arm, Voldemort merely shook his head. "It only took her a week to take her revenge against the vampiresss. Impressive."

Lucius raised his head just high enough to stare at him. "My lord?"

Rising from his throne, Voldemort wandlessly levitated himself down the dais until he was level with Lucius. 'Never hurts to remind my servants about why they follow me.' "I knew that Nox would attack the vampiresss. It wasss the whole reason why I sssent them after her in the first place." He explained, walking past Lucius and motioning for his most "loyal" follower to follow.

"Sssanguine wasss powerful. But he lacked sssight. He could never sssee the long game. Eventually we would've had to fight Sssanguine. If for no other reason than the sssimple fact that he would've refused to sssubmit. By sssending him after Nox, he might've gained a few blood bagsss to drain and sssome thrallsss. But in doing ssso he brought Nox'sss wraith down upon his own head. And Nox, in turn, took care of our future problem for us. We can only hope that Sssanguine's clan proved capable enough to actually do sssome damage to her numbersss."

He could almost taste the shock and, dare he say it, admiration that was coming off of Lucius. 'That's right Lucius. Remember who is in charge around here. I know of your ambitions. Keep them in check. Or I shall see to it that you meet a similar fate.'

"Brilliant, my Lord."

"Sssave your flattery Luciusss." Voldemort drawled, coming to a stop. "Sssend a notice. I want all of the true familiesss loyal to our cause to bring their families wands to me. I need a new one." 'At least until I receive the wand that I and I alone am destined to hold.'

"Yes, my Lord."

Continuing on his way, the two descended deeper into the complex. The whole building had been purchased by Lucius some months ago. And the moment was currently being renovated before it could serve its true purpose. Walking out into the lowest level of the complex, the two men stared at the dozen workers digging with pickaxes and shovels while Death Eaters kept careful watch over them. _'It is almost time.'_

"Once I've replaced my wand, it will be time to move onto our next ssstage." Voldemort drawled, watching as one of his men sent a dark curse at one of the workers, making the man cry out in agony.

Lucius eyes lit up. Although not from excitement. "My Lord?"

Smirking Voldemort watched as the slaves continued to work. "Yesss…it isss time to replenish our numbersss. And…I have sssomeone I need to meet."


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Welcome back everyone! Obviously back on the two week update schedule again. Just want to give my customary shout out to everyone who reviewed, alerted or added this story to your favorites. Thank you all so much!  
**

 **Now, having said that…this chapter comes with a warning. This chapter is without a doubt the darkest chapter I've ever written and will more than likely be the darkest chapter in this story. However…there are quite a few revelations in this chapter that are vital. And if any of you have actually managed to predict what is about to happen (Which a reviewer said that this story was becoming too predictable so they were out) then my hats off to you.**

 **Now having said that this chapter will be dark, the story is not meant nor will it become a slasher tortured filled blood bath either. But…these are dark people we're talking about (In terms of Voldemort and the Sith in general). And honestly I think that the whole SW universe could do with a little more darkness in the movies, which was why Rogue One is probably my favorite of the all eight movies so far.**

 **Lastly, a huge shout out to** **HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon. Thank you guys so much for your continued help!**

 **Chapter 18**

Sitting just outside of Rosa Lee Teabag in Diagon Alley, Harry Potter sipped at his cup of tea while watching the news stand out of the corner of his eye. As he watched a wizard walked up to the proprietor of the news stand and, after a brief hushed conversation, the wizard handed over a few coins and the proprietor discreetly handed over a rolled up Daily Prophet. As the wizard walked away, Harry felt himself grinning into his cup.

It'd been two weeks since the Guardians strike against the vampires and ever since his mother had been on a propaganda tear using Xeno Lovegood's Quibbler. Instead of reporting its usual nonsense, the Quibbler became a beacon of truth that flew in the face of the Daily Prophet and the Ministry. The first main article, which had been plastered across the front page, gave testimonials from the pureblood families that'd survived the vampire attack, for which the Guardians had been blamed.

The very next article, which had been released the next day, gave the details about how the vampires had been striking at not only the purebloods but the muggleborns' testimonials as well and how the Ministry was hushing those attacks up. Then the third article came out; a testimonial from the victims that'd been rescued from the Sanguine clan.

Of course the Ministry and the Daily Prophet tried to do everything they could to try and discredit what was being said, but when people actually started going to the St. Mungo's to speak with the rescued victims, and as families were reunited, the Ministry made their biggest mistake. They outlawed the Quibbler. Which, of course, everyone needed to get their hands on a copy. And now, albeit slowly, the public's opinion of the Guardians were starting to change for the better. While the opinion of the Ministry and the Daily Prophet were starting to slide.

Of course the slowly changing opinion of the public had only been one of the many strides the Guardians had made. The other most noteworthy of which had been the revelation of the prophecy that his mother and Madam Bones and been trying to hunt down for years. The memory that Moody had provided was one of his own, in which Dumbledore had shown him his own memory of the day the prophecy had been made. So now they knew the exact wording of the prophecy and with it they could better understand the motivations behind both Dumbledore's and Voldemort's actions.

"How many is that now in the last half hour?"

Turning his attention back to Ahsoka, Harry set down his cup. Of course she didn't look like the Ahsoka that he preferred, as he didn't look like the Harry that she preferred. While public opinion was slowly starting to shift in their favor, it was still dangerous for them to go out in open wearing their normal faces. "Thirteen." Harry answered, letting go of his tea and picking up a biscuit. "I have to say…when my mother said that she was sending the two of us out on a 'date'. This was not what I was hoping for."

Across from him, Ahsoka smiled shyly. "Me either." She said, reaching across the table and taking his hand in her own. "But…at least we're out and about right?"

Smiling back, Harry patted her hand. "You're right. I guess that I just need to look on the brighter side of– what is he doing here?"

Just over Ahsoka's shoulder, Harry spotted the ferret himself walking through the street completely alone. Ahsoka, for her part, didn't look around immediately in response to his sudden declaration. Instead she made a show of digging through her purse on her side, allowing her to bend over slightly and look behind her. "Is that…Draco Malfoy?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded, keeping his face neutral and his eyes on Ahsoka even as he followed Malfoy heir out of the corner of his eye. "But what is he doing here? And alone at that. Hogwarts hasn't even been out for a month…and it'll still be another month until the students get their class lists."

The two watched silently as Draco swept past the two of them and deeper into the alley. When he was almost out of sight, Ahsoka quickly got up to her feet, threw more than a few coins onto the table, and started moving off. "Well come on already Harry."

Gathering his stuff quickly, Harry had to almost jog in order to catch up with Ahsoka. Together the two trailed Draco from a fair distance away, always making sure that they kept him in sight but slowly occasionally to look into a storefront window or even ducking into a store whenever they got to close to him.

Eventually, Draco made his way into a section that Harry had never bothered to venture into in the past. "Knockturn Alley?" Harry mumbled, his arm tightly around Ahsoka's waist…purely for appearance's sake of course. "What could he be wanting from there?"

Watching from a safe distance, the two frowned as Draco, after checking behind himself, ducked into a shop called 'Borgin and Burkes.' "Shit." Harry cursed, backing up so that the two of them were against a wall across from the store Draco had ducked into. "What does he want in there?"

Ahsoka meanwhile had taken one look into the store, and then turned her attention to the opposite end of the alley from them. With a slight wave of her hand, several crates that'd been stacked up on the far end toppled over loudly, drawing the attention of just about everyone in the alley. "Don't fall behind Harry." Ahsoka whispered into his ear and, after making sure that no one was looking at them, Force leapt up onto the roof of the building.

Looking up and down the alley to make sure that no one was looking at him, Harry Force leapt up and onto the roof as well, landing right next to Ahsoka. And right in front of them was a large sky light that opened up into the shop Draco had ducked into.

"Ahsoka," Harry breathed, kneeling down next to the dirty glass and staring down into the shop. "You're a bloody genius."

"Of course I am." Ahsoka smiled back as the two stared down into the shop together.

Beneath them, Draco was standing in front of a large cabinet that was easily one and a half times as tall as he and twice as wide while behind him a man, Harry assumed to be the owner, was haggling with Draco. "-useless without the matching set!" Draco shouted, rounding on the man. "I need both of them!"

The proprietor of the store rubbed his hands together. "Well…I could make the effort to track down its mate. It will take some time of course. And money. And of course a matching set is worth far more than just a single unit. So…triple the asking price."

Draco whirled around and glared at the old man, not that it did any good as the old man merely stood there with a grin on his face. "You know who I'm here on behalf don't you?"

"Of course." The old man shrugged. "And I know him better than you do you little shite. And between the two of us, he more than likely likes me more than you. So triple…no. Seeing as how you're being such a little shite I would say four times the asking price and not a knut less."

Draco's face was turning an interesting shade of red as he silently fumed. "Y– you…how long will it take to procure the second?"

The old man shrugged. "A couple of weeks. That should be enough time for your father to scrape together the money. If he can that is. I've heard that he's had a run of bad luck lately in the financial department lately. I wonder if the Malfoy fortune will even be around in another generation or so." Draco made to comment, but the old man held his hand up. "Two weeks to find the second cabinet. And four times the original asking price. Now get out of my shop."

Draco looked like he wanted to argue, but instead he showed that he actually did have something resembling a brain as he turned tail and walked out of the shop with his head held high. "Huh," Harry mused, moving back towards the edge of the roof and watching as Draco march angrily down the street. "That was interesting."

"What was the cabinet that he was after?" Ahsoka asked, sidling up next to him.

"I don't know." Harry answered honestly. "But I do know one thing. If Draco wants it that bad, it means that his father wants it. Which means that-"

"The Dark Lord wants it for some reason or other." Ahsoka finished for him. "So, are we going to go in there and steal it? Destroy it? Or simply buy it out from under him?"

Casting her a sideways glance, Harry couldn't help but smile. "We'll try buying it out from under him first. Then sabotage if that fails. I really don't feel like stealing if we don't have to. But first, we need to figure out just what that thing is."

Making sure that the coast was clear, Harry calmly stepped off of the roof and freefell to the ground, using the Force to slow his momentum at the last moment so that his feet lightly touched the ground. "So," Ahsoka murmured as she landed softly next to him and the two began to approach the storefront. "What's the plan?"

Biting his lip, Harry began to formulate a plan off the top of his head. "Follow my lead for now," he whispered, reaching out for the handle with one hand while wrapping the other around Ahsoka's slim waist. "We'll see what we can dig up and then play it by ear."

Plastering a smile across his face, Harry pulled open the door and led her inside. "Ya see babe, this place is perfect! They've got everything!"

Falling into her role quickly, Ahsoka smiled widely and pecked him on the check. "I never doubted ya for minute sugah."

The old man behind the counter frowned as the two walked hand in hand into his store. "Americans?"

"That we are my good man." Harry smiled. "My girl and I here just finished up at Salem a few months ago and we wanted to see the world before we finally tied the knot and settled down into real life. My folks gave us enough money to last for fifteen years too! But just between us…I don't plan to let it last a year! Two maybe at most. Gotta have fun when you can right my man? "

At the prospect of just how much money Harry had on him, the old man's eyes lit up like Christmas had just come early. "I couldn't agree more with you young man." The old man smiled toothily, making his way around the counter. "Now what might I interest you two in? I have just about anything you could want! You name it, I more than likely have it or can get it for you."

For the next hour the two allowed themselves to be led around the shop as the old man showed off various trinkets or items. Most of which ranged from dark to quite insidious. The more eagerness they showed towards some of the dark objects, the more at ease the man seemed to become with them and the more open he became about the true nature of some of the objects he was selling.

More than once Harry had started to head towards the cabinet that Draco had been interested in, but each time Ahsoka pulled him back. "Let him lead us to it." She whispered into his ear, while playfully nipping at his neck, which wasn't helping his concentration in the slightest. "We don't want him to know that's what we're after."

Finally, after placing a few items onto the counter, the trio came across the whole reason they'd entered the store in the first place. "And what is this?" Ahsoka asked cheerfully, disengaging herself from Harry and making a show of examining the large cabinet. "Are these…runes etched into the wood? It's beautiful."

"You have a good eye my dear." The old man commented, in a tone slightly more hesitant than he'd been using just moments earlier. "That's called a Vanishing Cabinet. They were actually quite the rage about a decade and half ago here. You see, if you had a pair then you set one up in one location and another up in a separate location. You enter one, close the door and come out the other. And no wards would be able to keep you from leaving or entering."

As he said that, Harry's stomach dropped. _'A way to either enter or leave a location at will. Bypassing any wards that stand between the two cabinets...Force. They could go anywhere. But why would they want one of these? Voldemort's signature was always tearing down wards and setting up his own to keep people from fleeing. Unless…unless he needed this to get somewhere he can't get into.'_ That train of thought led Harry to one of two places. Neither of which were good.

 _'He either wants to get into Hogwarts or the Temple. And seeing as how he has no way to smuggle one of the cabinets into the Temple…odds are he's going to have his junior Death Eaters smuggle this thing into the school. Either way…we can't let him succeed. Which means we can't let Draco get his hands on this.'_

"-quite rare indeed lass." The old man nodded, bringing Harry's attention back to the matter at hand. "And the reason for that is simple. After the incidents of a few years ago the Ministry, while not outright banning these, made it extremely had to come by. And those who did have them had to turn them in for one reason or another. But simple fact was most were destroyed."

"Well then," Harry smiled, pulling out his coin pouch. "If it's rare, then it is definitely on my radar. How much my good man? And I would be more than happy to pay triple the asking price if you would happen to have its mate on hand. Or if not then I would be happy to pay for the expenses of finding it as long as I can take this one with us today."

The old man looked visibly torn. "I like you lad. I really do. But…but I'm afraid that this one is off the market. Another interested buyer has expressed interest in it…and I'm afraid that I cannot let this client down. And before you ask, no it isn't a matter of money either."

"I understand." Harry nodded, frowning as he stared at the cabinet. "I guess that we'll just have to settle for what we have here then! It's still a good haul!"

Fifty galleons later, Harry and Ahsoka were walking back out of the shop once again arm in arm with one another. After a few twists and turns down the Alley, Harry stopped and deposited their newly acquired items into a trash bin before igniting them all. "They were all fakes." Harry said, answering Ahsoka's unasked question. "And all of them were layered with tracking charms and a few other nasty little curses that would've had us crawling back in a few days begging him for either more of his wares or a cure."

Nodding, Ahsoka took his arm again and together the two of them walked back into Diagon Alley. "So what are we going to do?" Ahsoka asked quietly as they dodged through the traffic. We can't just let him get his hands on that thing. Especially if that old man manages to find its mate."

"I know." Harry nodded as the two of them made their way towards the apparation point within the alley. "But there's not a lot we can do right now. I'm sure that, given his shop's location, that man has applied every anti-burglary charm or enchantment there is on his shop and its items. No. Unfortunately we're caught in a bit of a pickle. The best we can do is inform everyone else and go from there. And we know that we have two weeks to figure it out as well. And besides, look at the bright side."

"There's a bright side?" Ahsoka asked, standing beside him in the apparation point.

"Of course!" Harry smiled. "At least our outing wasn't boring like we'd feared."

* * *

Wiping up the last few measly scraps of food from his tray, Gellert Grindelwald, famed Dark Wizard set his tray aside and laid back down in his makeshift bed. Looking up at the ceiling, Gellert started counting the stones that made up his cell. 'Sixty-six hundred and forty two.' He thought to himself as he didn't even make to one hundred before he stopped. _'There will always be sixty-six hundred and forty two. Except for that one time that there were sixty-six hundred and forty three. That was an interesting week.'_

Hearing the voices starting up again, Gellert slammed his mental barriers into place. _'Well…if there was any upside to being stuck in here for the past sixty plus years, it's that I've definitely improved my mental barriers. I doubt even my old friend Dumbledore could get into my mind now.'_

Closing his eyes to rest, Gellert stiffened as he felt the air shift unnaturally in his small prison cell. Sighing, he sat up and turned towards the darkened corner of his cell. "I knew that you would come. I didn't know that it would be today…but I knew that you would be coming sooner rather than later."

A figure clothed completely in black stepped out of the shadows. His face almost featureless save for his dark red eyes. "Dark Lord Gellert Grindelwald. The failure."

Smirking, Gellert shook his head. "Tom Riddle. Or do you prefer Lord Voldemort now? Either way, you're a fool. And for the record, I didn't fail. Quite opposite in fact. For the past sixty years I have won."

Riddle took a few steps closer before squatting down so the two were at eye level. "You think you've won? Pathetic. I didn't want to think that the man that I aspired to be could've fallen ssso low. But now I sssee that I was wrong all along." Pausing, Riddle pulled out a pitch black wand and pressed it against his forehead. Gellert didn't resist. There was no point resisting. At least now the voice would stop. "Your great destiny will now become mine."

Gellert couldn't help himself. He'd repeated those same words when he'd been young and stupid. And he found himself saying almost the same thing the one he'd killed had said. "You think that there is some great destiny for those like us Riddle? No. Look around. This is what awaits those like us. To die alone and despised by everyone. You think you're special? You're not. One day, you will die as well. Hated and alone."

Stopping, Gellert leaned forward, pressing the tip of the wand harder into his forehead. "I've made my peace. I thought that I would be ready to leave with no regrets. But now I realize that I will leave this world with one regret. I will never be able to see you fail. Do what you will boy. Your fate is sealed."

Snarling, Riddle stood up abruptly. "We could've achieved ssso much together Grindelwald. I actually almost regret that it's come to thisss. _Avada Kedavra_!"

Gellert didn't even try to move as the green light of the killing curse struck him square in the chest. And he died with a smile on his face, knowing that finally, after more than seventy years, that the voice would stop.

* * *

Crawling across the floor of her cell, Bellatrix Lestrange felt something strange happen. Something that hadn't happened in a long time. She smiled. The dementors, who'd been tormenting her for years, had vanished. She could hear the guards outside her cell scrambling trying to figure out what was going on, but Bellatrix knew. Even if they didn't. _'He's come for us.'_

Soon enough the halls of Azkaban were filled with the sounds of the dead and dying as the guards were cut down with ruthless efficiency. _'He's so close._ ' Bellatrix almost purred, looking down at the Dark Mark on her arm. _'So close…'_

One last idiotic guard decided to try and make one last stand outside her cell door, making some dramatic and idiotic speech about how he would rather die than let her get out. Well…he got his wish in the end as the one she'd been feeling crushed the fool without even breaking stride.

 _'So very close now_.' Bellatrix actually did purr this time as she crawled on her hands and knees towards the door. ' _He's come for us at last! Finally!'_

The door to her cell groaned and then snapped as it was pulled off of the stone wall and thrown down the hall. And there, standing where her door used to be, was none other than the Dark Lord Voldemort. "My Lord." Bellatrix laughed manically, falling at the Dark Lord's feet. "You've come for us!"

"Of course I have, my dear Bellatrix." The Dark Lord said soothingly, kneeling down and cupping her chin and making her look up into his eyes. "I have returned to you all at last. And it is time to complete our noble work. My faithful disciple."

* * *

For Nox, the past few weeks had passed by far faster than she'd anticipated. As soon as the business with Sanguine had been concluded, Nox had gone on the offensive using the Quibbler to counter the Ministry and the Daily Prophet. It took a couple of days for what had been printed to gain any traction, which admittedly wasn't aided by the fact that she was using a medium that was widely panned. But the Ministry, in its infinite idiocy, had done her a favor by banning the publication, thereby ensuring that everyone would want to know why. And now after just a few short weeks the public's opinion of both herself and the Guardians was starting to swing back into her favor. Although none of her political allies had yet to come back to her.

The Guardian forces themselves had also started to grow. Several of the magical's that they'd saved had asked to join up with them and were currently with Master Ti at the training center undergoing basic training. Master Ti had also cleared a number of troopers for duty, which allowed them to replace the numbers that they'd lost to this point as well as form a whole new squad under the command of Dan Granger. Which gave them five squads total. Not a significant number to be sure, but it was a start.

They'd also been able to finish the work on two more LAATs as well. Which was a serious boon considering their steadily increasing numbers. But to Nox, the biggest gain had been the addition of a second squadron of fighters. While the Nighthawk squadron had proven their worth against the vampires, but they were fighter-interceptors. This new squadron flew the F1-Beta's, a two seater fighter that was larger and designed more for bombing missions than for air to air combat. Master Secura had actually made a fairly good comparison between the two. She compared the F1-Alpha the Delta-7 Jedi Starfighter while the F1-Beta's were more like the BTL Y-Wings that the Republic had used. Even though they didn't alike, their purposes aligned almost perfectly.

Despite the influx within her forces, she was still troubled. The prophecy that Moody had given them being one of the many things that made her so. Although in truth, that revelation wasn't too much of a surprise to her as she'd already guessed most of its contents. But it did help to have confirmation and clarification on why Voldemort and Dumbledore had been acting as they had been around both herself and Harry. Which was all she really wanted anyway. She'd never placed much stock in prophecy. And she didn't put much stock into this one either. The only reason why she'd even wanted it in the first place was to better understand her opponents.

Then there was the revelation that Harry had brought to her attention the other day in regards to Draco and what he was after. These Vanishing Cabinets were indeed worrisome. And learning of their existence had made her go back over the wards surrounding the Temple with Bill to make sure that such devices couldn't be used within the walls. Once she was sure that the Temple was safe from someone slipping one inside, she set began her next task, which was to acquire said cabinets.

Unfortunately, the old man at the shop was proving to be more than slightly stubborn. She'd offered the man an obscene amount of coin, nearly ten times the asking price, and he'd flatly refused her. He said that a deal was deal and that he wouldn't go back on his word. She'd thought to…persuade the man. But then thought better of it. She was trying to limit her torture these days to those who truly deserved it. And as for mind tricking him, unfortunately the man had way too strong of barriers to fall victim to such a trick.

She'd entertained the idea of stealing the cabinets. But Harry's first assessment had proved to be correct in that the man had warded his shop and the items within with just about every anti-theft magic there was.

So, as she couldn't buy the cabinets nor steal them, she was left with only one option. Destroy them. They were far too dangerous to leave in Voldemort's capable hands. A dead drop to one of her spies within Voldemort's camp later, and she was assured that the issue would be handled once they were able to do so.

After resolving that last little hiccup, and upon conceding that she'd have to wait for Voldemort to tip his hand before they moved again, Nox set about solving a mystery that'd been plaguing her since their assault on the vampires. The green force lightning. A variant she'd never even heard of before, which was saying something given her experiences and the depth of her knowledge. Unfortunately, that left her only one of two options. The first was to head to the library and begin digging through the numerous holocrons she had. Which would take Force only knew how long, so that option was out.

Which left her with only one option left. Talk with someone who might have more knowledge than she. And unfortunately for her…that left only one individual in the Temple. It wasn't that she minded his advice, far from it in fact. No, what galled her was the fact that a Jedi might know something that she herself did not.

Which is how she found herself sitting cross-legged on a meditation platform across from the ancient Jedi Grand Master. "Hmm…a strange Force lightning you say?"

"Yes," Nox nodded. "I've seen many variations of Force lightning in my time. Even created one or two applications for it that could be considered…outside the norm I guess you could say. But green Force lightning…that was something else completely. Something that I've never even heard about before."

Humming, Yoda scratched at his chin his nails. "Interesting. Describe your state, when used this attack."

"There was nothing." Nox answered simply. "There was no hatred. No anger. Just…nothing. The man was merely and obstacle in my path and I lashed out at him like I'd done thousands of times before."

"But like before, this was not." Yoda said knowingly. "Anger. Hatred. Desire to harm. Traits needed for Sith Force lightning, these are. But when you attacked, devoid of these traits you were. Lashed out with the Force only, you did."

Leaning back, Nox thought on Yoda's words. _'The little gremlin is right. There was no…darkness in my attack. I simply reacted. But why doesn't he seem so surprised?'_ "You've seen this type of Force attack before." Nox stated, not quite accusingly. "Or at least you've heard of it."

"Heard of it, I have." Yoda nodded. "Master Plo Koon. The same phenomenon as you, experienced he did. His studies, put on hold they were. The Clone Wars, begun they had."

 _'Wonderful_.' Nox sighed. _'So basically nothing is actually known about this technique, outside of the fact that it exists. Well…nothing like researching from scratch. And in times past I would've embraced the opportunity with open arms. But I'm more than a little pressed for time at the moment.'_

"Well," Nox sighed out loud, rising from her seat. "I guess that I have my work ahead of me then. Thank you for your time Master Yoda."

Bowing slightly, Nox turned to leave the room, only for the door to slide open right in front of her. Standing on the other side was a remarkably pale faced Amelia and an equally pale looking Sirius. "Wonderful." Nox grumbled, taking her seat once again. "Alright. What the fuck's gone wrong this time?"

Instead of answering her, Sirius merely handed her the paper. Plastered across the front page was a picture of Azkaban. Or at least what was left of the once famous prison. Which had been pretty much reduced down to just its base foundation. "How many?" Nox asked, scanning over the article quickly.

"All of them." Amelia answered. "His Death Eaters and anyone else that was locked up. They're all gone. As are the dementors."

Finishing the article, Nox tossed the paper over to Yoda. "Well at least they're not trying the place the blame on us this time." Nox sighed. "And the paper didn't specify who escaped, only that a 'few prisoners' managed to get away. And that the dementors had been 'relocated'. I take it your contact in the Ministry gave you the truth?"

"Yes." Amelia nodded, walking fully into the room and sitting down onto one of the open flat meditation seats. "What are we going to do about it?"

"Unfortunately there isn't a lot that we can do." Nox answered, her brow furrowing as she thought. "Voldemort did more than just bolster his number with this. He's trying to force our attention away from him once again by letting prisoners, most of whom I assume are violent offenders, out into the open and giving them free rein. He wants us to go after them and leave him alone again."

"So what are we going to do?" Sirius asked, making his way into the room.

"Allow this to distract us, we cannot." Yoda spoke up, shocking both magicals as the old Master was usually fairly quiet around the both of them, allowing Nox to lead.

"Yoda is right." Nox sighed. "We can't let a few escaped convicts divert us again. Fortunately they're not like the vampires in that they're not organized. We'll leave your former colleagues to deal with the escapees Amelia. I'm sure Fudge is already scrambling to try and capture as many as possible. And while they're doing that, we'll focus in on Voldemort."

* * *

Keeping her head down, Narcissa followed behind her husband dutifully as he led her through the darkened maze of twists and turns. She had no idea just where they were as Lucius had simply grabbed her arm and apparated the two of them here after announcing that the Dark Lord had summoned his most loyal supporters to his side.

And as the dutiful wife of Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa was forced to come along as well apparently. 'He must have something big planned.' Narcissa thought as Lucius began leading her down a flight of stairs. 'He the only times he's brought me before the Dark Lord in the past was when the Dark Lord had some big announcement. It's too bad I don't know where we are…I'd be willing to bet every knut I have that this is where he's been hiding out.'

"Do not say a word." Lucius growled at her as they reached their destination. "Not. One. Word."

Nodding, Narcissa held her head up high as her husband led her into the next chamber. They were not the first ones to arrive. Dozens were standing in the room that was dominated by a large table circular table in the center with four chairs around it. As she followed her husband towards one particular group, her eyes drifted over the occupants. _'Only a few of them are Death Eaters…or even British for that matter. What is going on here?'_

As if to answer her unspoken question, as soon as Lucius and her found their place amongst the masses, the large double door that stood opposite from the one she'd entered from opened. A red curtained litter was carried into the room by four large, shirtless, men. As they approached, Narcissa noticed that each of their eyes were completely white. _'They're all under the Imperius Curse.'_

As one, the four men stopped and lowered the litter as an elegant hand reached out from behind the curtain. One of the men from the masses stepped forward and took the offered hand, leading out a young, incredibly beautiful woman of Asian descent draped in silk robes of red and gold out of the litter and towards the table. _'Lady Nightshade.'_ Narcissa frowned, recognizing the Dark Queen of the Orient.

The next one though was perhaps one of the largest men she'd ever seen. Dressed in a muggle business suit he was easily over two meters tall, broad shouldered, with a closely trimmed black and without a gram of fat on him. _'Good Morgana._ ' Narcissa swallowed. _'He looks like a walking mountain of flesh and muscle!'_

"Lord Blackwood." Lucius hissed quietly next to her, making her start ever so slightly.

Lord Blackwood was the self-proclaimed Dark Lord of America. Only instead of destroying everything, the man had a stranglehold on America's magical economy, which wasn't controlled by the goblins. But his power had been waning ever since Nox had stepped in and started talking chunks of his power away from him. _'And of course you would know him Lucius._ ' Narcissa thought snidely. _'After all, he's screwed you out of millions of galleons through business deals over the years.'_

The next one threw the door almost made Narcissa cough. And not just because of his appearance. But his smell. ' _He looks like a version of the Crypt Keeper from that creepy muggle show Sirius insisted on sending me a while back. There's only one man that I know that fits this description…Lord Mortis.'_ Despite his frail appearance, Lord Mortis moved with a confidence and radiated power, making any even close to him step back out.

Once those three were seated, Lord Voldemort himself walked through the doors. Accompanying him as always was her sister, Bellatrix. Narcissa couldn't help but wince when she saw her sister. There was once a time when Narcissa paled in comparison to her sister in every category. But now…well Azkaban did her beautiful sister absolutely no favors. She looked better than she did two weeks ago when Voldemort had first broken all of his imprisoned servants out…but still.

"Well?" Lord Blackwood growled, snapping his fingers and making one of his servants run over and present him with a cigarette. "You've gathered us all here Voldemort. Now what the fuck do you want?"

"Yes…hehehehe…Getting tired of chasing after little boys and being fearful of old men Voldemort eh? Hehehehe." Lord Mortis cackled.

Narcissa wasn't sure which she wanted to do more. Gawk at the sheer gall of the two men, or laugh at Voldemort for the way they dressed him down so thoroughly. And she was leaning towards the latter. Only her sense of self-preservation kept her for doing so. After all, only those with a death wish laughed at Lord Voldemort.

But if Voldemort was put off by their tone, he didn't show it as his face remained completely passive. "I have brought the three of you here to talk of an alliance."

The room was cast in silence as Voldemort's words sunk in. "Alliance!?" Blackwood yelled, standing up from his chair so fast that it fell back and clattered to the floor. "You want us to align with you? You couldn't even kill a fucking child or a washed out old man! If I wanted to see a fucking comedy show I would've walked down the goddamn street! Not flown my ass half way around the fucking world!"

"Sit down Blackwood." Nightshade said evenly.

Blackwood glared down at her, but if his glare had any effect on the Queen of the Orient she didn't let it show as she conjured up a pipe, prompting one of her minions to rush over and fill one end. After a full minute of silence, Blackwood grabbed his chair and slammed it back into place before retaking it.

Striking her finger against the table as if it were a match, a small flame appeared on the tip of Nightshades finger. "As brash as Blackwood is, he has a point." She murmured, lighting the end of her pipe and taking a long pull. "We three are secure in our domains Voldemort. Meanwhile you couldn't even take control of the British Isles. So why exactly should we even consider entering into an alliance with you?"

Placing his hands palm down on the table, Voldemort closed his eyes. The lights in the room began to flicker and the temperature seemed to plummet around them. Then Voldemort opened his eyes. Only…they weren't his eyes. His once red eyes were now golden and…glowing. And when he spoke his voice had a double tone to it. **"You will follow him because I command you too."**

The three Dark Lords sitting at the table all froze. Then as one they all got up from their seats and…knelt before Voldemort. Narcissa blinked, confused as to this new turn of events. A quick glance up at her husband spoke volumes as he appeared just as confused by what was happening as well. But despite their confusion, because their master's had kneeled every single person in the room, including Narcissa, knelt and bowed their heads before whatever Voldemort had just become.

"Emperor Vitiate." Lady Nightshade breathed, bowing her head. "Forgive us. We did not know that you choose a new Voice since Grindelwald."

Now Narcissa was completely lost. _'Who is this Vitiate? Some sort of dark presence or something?'_

Whatever it was that was possessing Voldemort, took it's time to study the three kneeling before it. **"It matters not. Grindelwald has paid for his failure."** Pausing, the glowing eyes focused in on Mortis. **"Mortis. Sixty years ago I gave you a specific objective. I trust that you haven't failed me."**

"Never, my Emperor." Mortis groveled. "I have done as you commanded. I was merely waiting for your return before enacting it."

 **"Good."** Voldemort drawled his eyes settled in on Nightshade. **"Nightshade. I granted you the ability to become the mother of my Children. Are they ready?"**

"Yes, my Emperor." Nightshade bowed lowly. "Your Children are eagerly awaiting the return of their father, my Emperor."

A small smile graced Voldemort's face as his eyes left Nightshade and settled Blackwood. **"Lord Blackwood. I trust that your predecessor informed you of your responsibilities before you killed him?"**

"Yes, my Emperor." Lord Blackwood nodded. "However…he raised some concerns with the plan Emperor. He…he did not believe we had the numbers in your Invincible Army to do what needed to be done."

 **"I see."** Voldemort, or rather this Vitiate, drawled. **"And do you share these concerns Blackwood?"**

"No, my Emperor." Blackwood shook his head vehemently. "He was weak for doubting you. That is one of the many reasons that led me to end him. I have ensured that even with the numbers that we have, your will shall be done."

 **"Well said, Blackwood."** Voldemort smirked. **"Then the time has come. Soon the world shall feel the weight of my imprisoned wraith. And after nearly three millennia the new Sith Order shall rise and we will claim this world as our own. And while Voldemort shall be my Voice, I bestow the title of Darth upon you three and name you the first amongst my Dark Council."**

The newly proclaimed Darth's bowed even lower almost to the point where their faces were touching the floor. "You honor us, my Emperor." The newly named Darth Nightshade groveled.

 **"You three have earned your places by my side."** Voldemort, or rather Vitiate continued before pausing and looking off slightly into the distance. **"However…a complication has arisen. The one you know as Ziri Nox. And her Guardians."**

"He's afraid of that bitch?"One of the foreign men a few spaced down from Narcissa and her husband grumbled. "How pathe– Ahh!"

The man's screams echoed throughout the room as he was lifted up off the ground. His body contorting as his arms and legs folded in on themselves snapping his bones like twigs. As his screams intensified, Narcissa repeated the mantra that'd help her avoid detection for years. _'I am nothing. I am no one. I am unworthy to be here.'_

"The most fatal mistake that any of you could make is to underestimate Nox." Voldemort continued as the body dropped out of the air, his body contorted and crushed. "As you three are now Darths on my Dark Council…so too was she."

That little tidbit almost made Narcissa's mantra stop, but she forced herself to continue. _'A question for another time.'_

 **"But she has become corrupted."** Vitiate continued. **"How or why she came to be here amongst the population is a question to be solved at a later time. But for now, she is our greatest adversary. Mortis…as cunning as you are she is more so. Nightshade, as knowledgeable as you are, she is smarter. And Blackwood, as powerful as you are she is far beyond your equal. And…she has brought the Jedi, the ancient enemy of the Sith, with her. These Guardians of hers…the Jedi. They are not to be underestimated. They will prove themselves to be our largest obstacle in our path forward. But despite this…they cannot stop what is about to come."**

Rising from his seat, everyone, including Narcissa, bowed their heads lower. **"And now…a demonstration. My vessel, Voldemort, shall show you three why I have chosen him. Darth Blackwood…I believe this demonstration shall alleviate some of your concerns."**

The lights flickered once more as Voldemort's eyes closed before reopening back to their normal red coloring. "Come," Voldemort motioned. "It iss time to add to our Invincible Army."

Rising to her feet, Narcissa shuffled along with the rest of assembled masses out of the room and down a long flight of stairs. With each step she took, she felt her heart beating rapidly, threatening to burst out of her chest. _'I am nothing. I am no one. I am unworthy of being here.'_

Coming to the bottom of the stairs, the room opened up into a large cavern. The center of which was dominated by a large pit nearly five meters deep with dozens of small altar like objects surrounding it. Each altar was shaped almost like a funnel of sorts leading down and emptying into the pit. But when her eyes fell upon the interior of the pit, her feet almost refused to move another step.

"Please let us go!"

"We didn't do anything!"

"I want mommy!"

"Uncle! Please Uncle help me!"

 _'By Merlin…'_ Narcissa inwardly gasped as the feeling of dread intensified within her. _'They're…they're children. Dozens…maybe even a hundred children! None of them look a day older than my Draco! Good god…what is…what's going to happen?'_

Walking towards one of the altars that lined the edge of the pit, Voldemort spared the children a disparaging glance before turning his back on them. "Squibsss. A blight on our great ssociety. But even still…these ssquib children can serve a purpose. Just as ssquib adultss can."

"Let me go you fuckers!"

Turning her head, Narcissa frowned as two Death Eaters led a struggling man towards Voldemort. His protests fell on dead ears as the two forced him to his knees in front of one of the altars. Once he was kneeling before the altar, some sort of brace shot out, securing him in place with his head and neck extended over the middle of the altar.

Walking over to the altar, Voldemort conjured a wickedly curved dagger and waved it in front of the man's face. "There is innate magic within squibs. But they are unable to utilize it. However, for those who have the power and will to do sso…that innate magic within ssquib children can be manipulated. And within adults…it can be used as a ssource of power!"

And without another word, Voldemort brought the dagger down and sliced through the man's throat. The man's body twitched as his blood flowed freely out of his neck and into the altar beneath him. Despite the grotesque display, Narcissa kept her calm. She'd seen worse. But when the children began screaming again, Narcissa nearly lost all semblance of control. The blood that was falling out of the man and into the altar was being…funneled into the pit.

As she stood frozen in disgust and fear, dozens of others were led out into the room and secured to the various altars around the room. "There are plenty for everyone." Voldemort smile, patting the man who was bleeding out in front of him on the back. "Don't be shy. And enjoy yourselves. Tonight is a night for celebration!"

Narcissa forced herself to remain rooted to her place as the followers of Voldemort, Nightshade, Blackwood and Mortis descended upon their victims like a pack of ravage wolves. If the victims were lucky, they're deaths were quick. If they weren't…then they would be played with. Emotionally, physically…and even sometimes sexually before being strapped to the altars and drained of every last drop of their blood. Once one body had been completely drained of their blood, their bodies were removed from the altars so that another could take their place.

The festivities, if they could be called that, continued on for over an hour. Thankfully, Narcissa herself had never once even been offered a dagger. Even after her husband slit the throat of a young woman. She knew that she wouldn't have been able to do the deed. And then she would've probably ended up on one of the altars herself…or worse. By the time the last body had been removed from the altar, the children, some of them trying to comfort each other, were standing knee deep in blood.

"Well done…all of you." Voldemort congratulated them all as he stepped forward. "But we are not finished yet. There is sstill one last grouping that needs to be bled. And a specific group that are to bleed them."

A new group of adult squibs were led to each of the altars and secured in place. Narcissa nearly cried out as, after the squibs had been secured, a new group was brought forth. This one full of teens that she recognized…including her son. The group of magical children were led before Voldemort and as one they all sunk to their knees. Walking up to them, Voldemort began pacing in front of them.

"You all have been tested and found worthy of joining the noble ranks of my Death Eaters." Voldemort drawled, pausing as he reached out and gently cupped the chin of Pansy Parkinson, who seemed to almost glow at the attention. "But there is one last trial awaiting you. Are you ready to become full fledge Death Eaters?"

"Yes, my Lord." All of the children, including her Draco, responded.

"Good," Voldemort smiled, removing his hand from Pansy. "Before you iss your final trial. Do what you will with these squibs. But in the end…their blood must join with the others. Now go."

Narcissa shifted her weight to stop her son, but her movement was stopped as her husband quickly came to Draco's side and started whispering in his ear. _'Please Draco.'_ She silently begged as she watched her son be led up to one of the sacrifices _'Please…please don't do this! There is no coming back from this! You'll be a monster!'_

Her pleas fell on deaf ears as a vicious snarl came over her son's face as he pointed his wand at the bound man. "Crucio!"

Narcissa's heart shattered upon hearing the unforgivable curse pass her son's lips. Even as all around her the crowd cheered as the children, mere children! Brutalized their victims. Finally the man's cries were ended as her Lucius handed her son a dagger. A dagger her son used to cut the man's throat so viciously that she was sure he'd hit bone.

"Well done," Voldemort clapped as the last of the sacrifices bleed out. "Now kneel before me and receive your mark."

 _'What was it all for?'_ Narcissa despaired as her son knelt before Voldemort so he too could be branded like cattle. _'Everything I've done has been for him. I've tried to show him the right way…so that he wouldn't follow the same path as his father. But now…now he's lost. I've risked everything for him…and it was all for naught.'_

Once the last of the teens were branded, Voldemort walked back to the altar where he'd started his massacre. "It is almost time…there iss only one last thing needed. The traitor in our midst."

Narcissa felt her heart freeze. _'I am nothing. I am no one. I am unworthy.'_

Whirling around, Voldemort faced in her direction and held out his hand. From behind her she heard a man cry out as he was dragged forward. "Did you think that I wouldn't notice?" Voldemort asked as one of the men that Blackwood had brought with him was dragged forward by an invisible force before. "I can almost sssmell Nox's magic on you."

The man didn't say anything, even as Voldemort's still normal hand clench around his throat and picked him up off the ground as if he weighed nothing at all. "Fuck you!" The man managed to get out from between clenched teeth. "Nox…is more powerful…than you! She will…kill you! All of you!"

"That iss where you're wrong." Voldemort smiled as he placed the tips of his silver fingers over the man's heart. "Not that it really matters of course. As you won't live long enough to see her fall."

With excruciating slowness, Voldemort pushed his silver fingers into the flesh of the man. The man cried out in agony, flailing his body to and fro in an attempt to break free of his grip, but nothing he did helped as Voldemort kept pushing his hand into the man's chest until he was wrist deep. The man's screams reached their peak as Voldemort's arm twisted, then there was only silence as Voldemort pulled his arm out. The man's still heart resting in the palm of his hand.

Dropping the traitor's body, Voldemort held the heart high and walked towards the edge of the pit. His voice took on the two tones once more as he started speaking in a guttural deep language that Narcissa had absolutely no hope of comprehending. The heart in his hand started to smoke the longer Voldemort chanted before bursting into flames. With one final cry, Voldemort threw the flaming heart into the pit.

The children screamed and tried to avoid the heart, but as soon as the heart hit the pool of blood everything inside of the pit ignited creating a wall of fire. Holding his arms out to his sides, Voldemort's chanting rose over the sounds of the screams coming from the pit. The flames began circling, creating a whirlwind before slowly shifting from their yellow and orange coloring and into a black miasma.

Ending his chant, Voldemort slouched and took a step back from the edge of the pit. The miasma within reaching the very top of the pit but not spilling over. "It is done." Voldemort proclaimed. "Come forth!"

Narcissa felt her skin prickle as the temperature in the room began to plummet. She could see her own breath in front of her face as everyone around her started shivering slightly. But it was not only the cold that had people shivering. A feeling of utter hopelessness had settled like a blanket over the room. As if every positive feeling had been sucked out of the room. _'No…he couldn't have…'_

A single white boney elongated hand reached out from within the miasma. A twisted hollowed face rose soon after the hand, the creature's eyes were gone and its mouth permanently opened. _'Merlin and Morgana.'_ Narcissa despaired as she watched dozens of similar creatures rise from the depths of the miasma. _'He…he created dementors!'_

"One hundred squib children." Voldemort drawled, reaching out hand and caressing the nearest dementor. "Tainted with the blood of two hundred squib adults and altered with the heart of a magical. This is how the dementors were born. This…this is our Invincible Army! With the dementors at our beck and call, not even the former Darth Nox and her ragtag group of Guardians will be able to stand against us!" Turning away from the dementor, Voldemort raised his arms. "Rejoice brothers and sisters! For the rise of the new Sith Order of the Eternal Empire is at hand!"

* * *

Leaning against the headboard of her bed with Tonks tucked in her arms, Nox frowned as she felt something…off. Then all at once it hit her. Flinging herself forward, and waking Tonks who tumbled to the floor with a cry, Nox leaned over the edge of the bed and began retching loudly. "Oh shite, Nox! Are you alright? Fuck…say something! What's wrong?!"

Shuddering, Nox wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand. "Something…something has happened." Nox gasped, feeling her stomach twirl again as the Force assaulted her in almost the same manner as it had when Order 66 had been given.

"Something…terrible has happened. Something that is making the Force itself cry out against it."

Getting up from her bed on somewhat more than shaky legs, Nox grabbed hold of the bedpost to steady herself as the feelings of wrongness from the Force continued to assault her every sense. "Tonks." Nox gasped. "Get everyone up. Now. I don't care if they're sleeping, reading or fucking. Get them up and get them to war room now!"

Tonks didn't even question her as she disappeared with a crack of apparation. _'Voldemort.'_ Nox gasped, stumbling forward and catching herself on the wall. _'What the fuck have you done?'_

* * *

Sitting in her large bathtub, Narcissa remained completely still as her skin slowly pruned under the warm water. Her mind was completely devoid of all thought and emotion. It was the only way she knew how to cope with what she'd just experienced. Never before, not even during Voldemort's first reign of terror, had she ever seen anything like she'd witnessed tonight. _'Children…mere children transformed into those…those vile creatures and…'_

 _'No…don't think about it!'_

Rubbing at her eyes, Narcissa felt the tears that she'd been holding back come forth with a vengeance. First there were the children that were transformed into those…creatures. Then the adults that were slaughtered like animals to fuel the ritual. Then there was her own son…standing proud after having tortured and cut the throat of an innocent. Then…then when they returned her husband took her to their room and had his way with her and when she failed to respond in the manner he deemed acceptable, he calmly informed her that he would go off and search for one who was more acceptable.

 _'What has it all been for?'_ Narcissa wondered as she fisted her eyes. _'Everything that I've worked for…my own son. I've tried for so long to keep him from falling into the same trap that his father did. And now…now all my work means nothing. He's become exactly like his father. A monster. Yet still…he's my son. I can't…I can't just abandon him. But…but I can't do anything for him any longer. Not here anyway. Not with his father so close whispering into his ear.'_

"Dobby."

Her house elf appeared beside her, far more subdued than normal. _'No doubt on account of myself. And the festivities happening beneath this roof._ ' "Yes Mistress?"

Getting up from the tub, Narcissa reached down and wrapped the towel that she'd placed on the stool nearby around her lithe body. "We're leaving. Send a notice to the dead drop location that I need to be picked up immediately from our discussed rendezvous point."

Dobby's eyes widened, if that were even possible, before nodding vigorously. "Yes Mistress. Dobby go now and be back in a jiffy!" He mumbled before raising his hand and, with a snap of his fingers, disappeared.

Making her way over to her vanity, Narcissa picked up her wand and with a swish dried herself completely. Walking out into her bedroom with naught but her towel around her, she could distantly hear the sounds of partying coming from the main hall. _'No doubt Draco and his father is with them.'_ She thought angrily, trying not to picture the ways in which her husband was furtherly corrupting her son.

Making her way over to her closet, Narcissa practically threw the sliding door off of its tracks as she ripped it open. A sinking feeling settled into her gut as her eyes traveled across the various dress and robes that were hung up orderly in her closet. All of them had been purchased after arriving at this accursed estate. And she wanted no reminders of her time here.

Pushing aside all of clothes, she opened up the false wall within her closet. Inside were several sets of muggle 'club' clothing that her, Andromeda and Bellatrix would dress up in when they were young and stupid and eager to hit up parts of muggle London. And underneath those clothes were several sets of casual muggle clothing. Both of which would cause her pureblooded idiot of a husband to go ballistic if he knew she owned them.

Picking out a set of causal muggle clothes, she set about magically resizing and cleaning the outfits before slipping them on. Once she was dressed, she made her way towards the large bed. After staring down at the accursed object that represented her marriage, she raised her wand and obliterated it with a single wave of her wand. _'Shite_.' She thought with a smile. _'That felt really really good. Far better than sex with Lucius ever did.'_

As she turned to leave, she froze as she remembered the last correspondence she'd had with Nox. _'Shite…I forgot all about that blasted cabinet!'_

She'd known exactly what Nox had been talking about of course. Her son had been prouder than a stallion out to stud the day he'd brought the pair of Vanishing Cabinets home. And she more than readily agreed with Nox. Such objects were far, far too dangerous to leave in the hands of the Dark Lord. 'I'll have to destroy them on my way out then.'

Making sure that her wand was safely up her sleeve, she walked out of what used to be her bedroom and made her way down towards her son's room. _'For the last time.'_

"Well well well…what do we have here?"

Narcissa froze in place and slowly turned around. Standing no more than a few dozen paces behind her were a dozen Death Eaters. Led by none other than her sister's brother-in-law Rabastan Lestrange. "Rabastan." Narcissa greeted him, sparing a quick glance at the dozen or so he'd led with him. "I thought that you would be down with the others celebrating this glorious night?"

Rabastan's grin was anything but pleasing as his eyes roamed over her from head to toe while circling around her leaving her trapped between himself and the others he'd brought with him. "One could say the same of you Narcissa. Although…you never really did have the stomach for such things. And it appears that time hasn't changed you. You still can't recognize that they are merely animals to do with as we please. As for why I'm here…the Dark Lord has requested your presence at his side."

Clenching her teeth, Narcissa gave a slight nod. "As you say Rabastan. I will join him soon. Now if you'll excuse me."

"Where are you going Narcissa?" Rabastan asked, his arm shooting out and blocking her path. "The Dark Lord is waiting for you…down that direction."

"This is still my home Rabastan." Narcissa answered, locking eyes with the man. "I do not need to explain myself to you."

Rabastan held her gaze before throwing his head back and laughing. "Oh Narcissa…did you honestly think that you could get away with it?"

It took every ounce of willpower she had not to give anything away as she held his gaze. "I'm afraid that I don't know what you're talking about Rabastan."

"Don't play games with me you bitch!" Rabastan shouted, stepping forward so they were almost face to face. "Did you honestly think that you could fool the greatest Dark Lord in history? The Voice of the Emperor himself!"

Her stomach plummeted. _'He knew…he knew all along. But then…why hasn't he acted upon it yet? Well no matter the reason, he's given me a chance that I'm not about to waste by waiting.'_ "Well…I figure that given the general intelligence of those he surrounds himself with, fooling him wouldn't be too hard. And considering I'd been able to do so for years, I'd say I was successful on that account."

Rabastan blinked, stunned that she would openly admit her betrayal. And in that instant she moved. Letting her wand drop into her right hand she tilted the point upwards and hit Rabastan with a powerful blasting curse right in the chest. The Death Eater could do little more than give a strangled cry as he was thrown away from Narcissa and over the banister railing leading down to the ground floor.

Turning in place, Narcissa aimed her wand at the dozen wannabe Death Eaters who'd followed Rabastan. " _Fiendfyre_!"

A burst of dark flames emerged from the end of her wand, morphing immediately into the form of large hawk before swooping down on the surprised Death Eaters, burning several and scattering the rest as it lit the house aflame.

Not bothering to see how much damage she'd caused, Narcissa immediately took off for her son's room. As she reached his room, she didn't bother reaching for the door handle, preferring instead to simply blast apart the door with a powerful blasting hex. And just inside the room, standing tall against the far wall, were the two Vanishing Cabinets. " _Fiendfyre_!"

Another hawk breathed in flames emerged from her wand. The creature circled the room once before settling atop the two cabinets and setting the both of them ablaze. Lowering her wand, she watched as the two cabinets were reduced to ash. _'Now I just need to get out-'_

A searing pain shot through her, sending her to the ground as her hand clutched at her side. "You fucking bitch!" Rabastan's deep voice echoed as he stepped into her son's room after hitting her with a cutting curse, his eyes focused on the two burning cabinets. "Do you have any idea what you've done!?"

Clutching at her side, Narcissa could feel the blood slowly leaving her. But more than that, whatever curse Rabastan had used was still affecting her as the wound in her side started to grow and burn with each passing second. _'Shite…what did he hit me with! It – it hurts so much! I– I can't feel my legs!'_

As bad as the pain was, it became infinitely worse as Rabastan turned his attention back to her. "You fucking bitch… _Crucio_!"

Pain wracked every centimeter of Narcissa's body as her back arched and she screamed. "You're going to pay you fucking bitch!" Rabastan yelled, keeping the spell going on her even as he tried in vain to put out the cursed fire that was destroying the cabinets. "The Dark Lord is going to make you pay for this! I'm going to enjoy watching what he does to you! You fucking blood traitorous bit-!"

His words were cut off abruptly as a small figured snapped into existence between the two of them. "You will not harm Mistress Narcissa!" Rabastan couldn't even react before Dobby thrusted his hand towards the wizard. A jet of blue light leaving his hand and impacting Rabastan in the chest, throwing him out of the room.

"Dobby." Narcissa groaned as she felt the spell eat away at her further.

"Mistress!" Dobby cried, turning back to her, his hands shaking as he timidly felt at her side. She could feel his magic seep into her wound, but at best he was only able to slow whatever Rabastan had done to her. "Mistress! Dobby is so sorry! Dobby tried to be fast but Dobby was too slow! Now kind Mistress is hurt and Dobby couldn't even get a hold of Guardians and now-"

"Dobby." Narcissa groaned, trying not to move out of fear of aggravating the hole in her side. "Just…get us out of here. Somewhere. Anywhere. Now."

Nodding, Dobby took hold of her hand and then snapped his fingers. And like the snap of his fingers, the life Narcissa had known was gone.

* * *

Stroking the head of his faithful companion Nagini, Voldemort listened completely disinterestedly as yet another one of his Death Eaters suffered his wraith. _'It's such a shame.'_ Voldemort sighed internally, casting a glance out of the corner of his eye as Rabastan Lestrange twitched and screamed on the ground as Voldemort held the Cruciatus Curse over him. _'There was a time when I could trust five of my Death Eaters with any task. Of those five; Regulus betrayed me. Lucius has failed me one too many times to truly be trusted again. And now Rabastan has failed me. Only Bellatrix and Rodolphus remain.'_

 _ **"In time even they will fail you."**_ The voice of the Emperor spoke in his mind as fifty of his best Death Eaters, including Lucius and his son, watched on. _**"In time, they will seek your power and attempt to take that which is yours. You must make an example. Starting with this one. Your followers must see that even your favorites will suffer the fate awaiting those who fail me."**_

In truth, Voldemort didn't want to take this route, Rabastan was a loyal and powerful servant. But the Emperor was right. He couldn't allow his fondness for even his favored Death Eaters to skew his judgment. Ending the curse, Voldemort met Yaxley's eyes and gave the man a slight nod, signaling for Yaxley to leave, as Voldemort rose from his seat.

"Please…my lord…" Rabastan groaned on the ground. "I beg your…forgiveness."

Walking down the steps, Voldemort didn't stop until he was standing over his servant. "You have been a loyal and powerful servant Rabastan. And you have my forgiveness." Rabastan sighed in relief, until Voldemort continued however. "However. You allowed Narcissa to escape. The Emperor and I had planss for her. Not only that, but ssshe was privy to our planss. And if we do not manage to get her back, those plans will ssoon be in Nox's hands. So while I forgive you…the Emperor doess not."

The doors leading into the audience room slammed opened as Yaxley, flowed by a small contingent of Death Eaters, levitated in what looked like a muggle electric chair used for executions. "My Lord!" Rabastan cried as Voldemort turned his back on him while Yaxley used magic to place Rabastan into the chair.

By the time Voldemort had retaken his seat, Rabastan's arms, legs and chest had been secured in the chair with several magical resistant leather straps and a large metal helmet with five small slots; one over each eye, one over his mouth, one atop his head and one behind his head, was lowered into place.

Once the helmet was in place, Yaxley produced five narrow spikes, each nearly four inches in length, and placed them over the opening of each slot where they waited suspended by magic. "This wasss to be Narcissa's fate." Voldemort explained as Yaxley finished his preparations and stepped behind the chair. No one moved to intervene. Not even Rodolphus. "But as we have been robbed of her…Rabastan shall suffer her fate. Yaxley…begin."

Nodding, Yaxley pulled out his wand and touched it to one of the many runes that Voldemort knew covered the back of the chair. In response, the spike over Rabastan's right eye pulsed before slowly inching its way forward. Rabastan's screams echoed out from underneath the metal helmet as the spike sunk into his eye until it disappeared completely.

His body flailed hopelessly against his restraints as he tried in vain to break free. Once it was fully inserted the spike above his other eye began its descent. One by one the spikes descended into Rabastan's head until they disappeared from sight, with the last to be the one inserted into his mouth, which bypassed his tongue and sunk into the roof of his mouth.

Once all five were inserted, Yaxley tapped his wand to yet another rune on the back. The helmet atop Rabastan's head glowed red as Rabastan's screams intensified tenfold as the room began filling with the unmistakable smell of burning hair and flesh as the helmet was heated. Then it all ended. The helmet returned to its normal coloring as Rabastan's struggles and screams ceased. But his chest still heaved in and out.

Pressing his fingers against Rabastan's neck, Yaxley held them there for a full minute before turning towards Voldemort. "He still lives my lord."

"Release him." Voldemort commanded, leaning back and stoking Nagini's head.

Undoing the straps, Yaxley waited until all of them were undone before using is wand to lift the helmet. Rabastan's hair was gone and his skin had been badly burned by the heat of the helm. Each of his eyes were gone, replaced instead with the head of each spike.

"Rise, Rabastan." Like puppet on strings, Rabastan silently rose from the chair as he followed Voldemort's commands. "Give him hisss wand Yaxley."

Hesitantly, Yaxley held out Rabastan's wand, which Rabastan took without question and without turning his head. "Cast a stunning spell at your brother Rabastan." Voldemort commanded.

Without hesitation, Rabastan turned towards his brother and snapped off a red stunner, which his brother only just managed to deflect as he raised a shield at the last possible second. Smiling, Voldemort clapped loudly. "Well done Yaxley." Voldemort congratulated his servant. "You've certainly exceeded what I told you to achieve."

"I live only to serve, my Lord." Yaxley replied, bowing deeply.

This had been an idea that'd been given to Voldemort a long time ago by the Emperor himself. A way to make sure that resources were not wasted. "His free will iss gone." Voldemort explained to the stunned faces of his servants. "Yet he still hass his magic. He feels no pain. He knowss no emotion. He will follow my every command to the letter. If I tell him to run, he will run until hiss heart gives out and then try to continue until I tell him to do so."

Rising from his seat, he waved his hand towards Rabastan. "This is the price of treason. And the fate that awaits those who fail me. Remember thisss. Ssrve me, serve the Emperor well. And you shall be spared this fate. Now go." Pausing, he turned towards the Death Eaters that were lining the right side of the hall. "Goyle."

Stepping forward, the man sunk down to one knee. "Yes, my Lord?"

"You sshall be responsible for finding and capturing Narcissa before sshe managess to get to Nox." Voldemort demanded as Nagini slithered down the dais towards the man. "You may take whatever men you deem necessary and use whatever meanss necessary. But I want her retrieved….alive"

Goyle started shaking as his eyes flickered towards Rabastan. "My- my Lord you honor me. But…but how am I supposed-"

"Please my Lord." Lucius cut in, kneeling down in front of Voldemort. "Let me have the honor of recapturing my traitorous wife. I know of a way to track her. The spell Rabastan struck her with, we can use that! Please, allow me to do this. I beg of you."

"No." Voldemort countered immediately. "Traitor she is, she was your wife. I would not have your loyalty compromised. Goyle shall have this assignment. As you know of a way to track her, you shall give this knowledge to Goyle and send him on his way."

Lucius hesitated, but then bowed his head. "As you command, my Lord."

"Good." Voldemort drawled, his eyes settling on Goyle. "She was wounded by Rabastan with a cutting curse attached with a curse of mortality. Ssshe will not be able to get far. And the elf that is helping her will not be able to continue to do ssso for long. Go. And do not even think about coming back unless you have her. Unless you wish to be…improved."

Goyle's eyes once again flickered towards Rabastan before bowing low enough so that his forehead touched the ground and then all but sprinted out of the hall. "Now all of you, get out." Voldemort commanded, sinking down heavily into his throne once again.

 _ **"You've done well so far."**_ The voice of the Emperor spoke in his mind. _**"I have chosen you well."**_

* * *

Pulling out of his memories, Dumbledore began pacing beside the pensieve in his office while next to his desk Fawkes slept soundly completely unaware, or uncaring, of his bond mate's internal struggle. _'How could I have missed so many chances?'_ Dumbledore asked himself as he paced. His mind, as usual, on the topic of Harry Potter and how he'd failed to bring the boy back to the light. _'And now I fear that he is truly lost. And as Nox won't allow Harry to meet his destiny…so to is the entirety of the wizarding world.'_

Hearing the fire roar to life behind him, Dumbledore didn't bother to turn around as he heard the arrival of the one he'd been waiting for. "It took you quite a while to get away this time Severus." Dumbledore said out loud, turning to greet his Potions Master.

Only to have said Potions Master to breeze right by him and head for Dumbledore's private stock of firewhiskey. Without even asking, Severus threw open the cabinet, grabbed a bottle and began drinking heavily. "Rough night then?" Dumbledore asked when Severus finally came up for air.

Instead of answering, Severus merely held out a small scroll for him to take. "These students…they need to be expelled. I don't care what excuse we give, but we can't risk them stepping foot back into Hogwarts come fall."

Frowning, Dumbledore took the list from Severus and unrolled it. His frown only deepened as his eyes went further and further down the list. There were quite a few names from dark families and some from the neutral families. But most disturbing was the fact that a few were from what'd once been considered light families. "Severus…you know that we can't expel these students for any reason. We must show them that there is a better path."

"A better path?" Severus stuttered. "Headmaster…those children all killed in cold blood tonight as part of a ritualistic sacrifice which allowed the Dark Lord to create over a hundred dementors! On top of that, the Dark Lord has also aligned with Mortis, Nightshade and Blackwood!"

Severus's statement brought Dumbledore up short. The fact that the Dark Lord managed to create more dementors and the fact that he had children kill in cold blood…this was far worse than anything Tom had done during his previous reign of terror. And allying himself with the other three powerful Dark Lords from around the world. Madness. _'Perhaps he's right.'_ He thought looking back down at the list. _'Perhaps it would be for the best if we…keep these students away from the others.'_

 _'But then they won't have a chance to redeem themselves._ ' And another part of his mind said. _'We can't just leave these students to the tender mercies of their parents' choices. No. We must shelter them and protect them.'_ "I'm sorry Severus." Dumbledore sighed. "But we must try to save these children. Perhaps being away from their parents now will do them good."

Severus looked fit to burst, but he didn't understand. No one understood. They needed to show those children there was a better path. One without bloodshed. And one where they wouldn't end up in a prison cell or walking through the Veil of Death.

"Damn it." Severus growled, throwing back another large amount of firewhiskey. "Headmaster…I can't do this anymore. I can't spy for you."

Dumbledore's eyes hardened at that. He needed Severus. "You forget the oath you swore to me Severus?"

"No." Severus replied, shaking his head. "But tonight…he exposed two of Nox's spies that she had embedded within his ranks. One was an American that came with Blackwood. A man the Dark Lord had never even seen before tonight. He exposed him, then ripped his heart out as the final component for his ritual."

Dumbledore winced. That was not a pleasant fate. "And the second?"

At this, Severus actually laughed. "None other than Narcissa Malfoy." This made Dumbledore start. _'Nox managed to convert Narcissa? How? That gives her three of the Black siblings…not good.'_

"How or why she turned spy I have no idea. But she managed to escape before the Dark Lord could get his hands on her…and good for her too. I won't wish the fate he had planned out for her on anyone."

"Is there any chance that we would be able to offer her sanctuary?" Dumbledore mused, moving back towards his high-backed chair. If they could offer Narcissa sanctuary, it would indebt her to him. And he could use that to leverage poor Draco back to the path of light.

"No." Severus responded, dashing his hopes. "The Dark Lord sent out a group of his servants after her. There's no way that I can get between them and her. That's if they can even catch her. By now she's either with Nox, dead or about to wish that she were dead."

"I see." Dumbledore sighed. Such a waste. "Is there anything else?"

At this Severus hesitated. "Yes. Nightshade, Blackwood and Mortis all vowed their allegiance to the Dark Lord. Or rather as he now likes to be called, the Voice of the Emperor."

Dumbledore felt his heart stop and his blood freeze in his veins. _'I'm…the Voice of the Emperor my friend._ ' Gellert had told him just before their final duel.

The words that Geller told him still make my heart go cold in fear. ' _You have to defeat me my friend. Here and now for all of our sakes. But…but you can't kill me. Lock me away and throw away the key and give me the Elixir of Life so that I can keep him sealed away forever. If you don't…then another will be named and the darkness will come again. Emperor Vitiate will find another once I die. You cannot let that happen my friend. For all of our sakes.'_

"You are sure that he said those exact words?" Dumbledore pressed, leaning forward. "The Voice of the Emperor?"

"Yes." Severus nodded. "And this…Emperor even spoke through the Dark Lord. The others called him Emperor Vitiate. Who is he? I've never heard of such a Dark Lord before."

Biting his lip, Dumbledore found himself telling his old friend something that he'd never told anyone before. "It's been rumored that since the time of Ancient Rome that whenever Dark Witches or Wizards would band together, they would be led by one who called themselves the 'Emperor's Voice'. They were only called this in private though and it was never confirmed whether this was actually true and most simply dismissed it as a myth. I did as well.

"Until I heard the truth from the last Voice of the Emperor. Gellert Grindelwald. It was why I didn't kill my old friend after our battle. He told me that he had the Emperor contained within him. But if he were to die…then the Emperor would be free to leave him and find another. That is he was locked away forever. I wish I could say that I spared my old friend out of the kindness of my heart…but that would be a lie. I spared him only to seal away this Emperor. And now…my old friend is dead. And the Ancient Dark Lord who has cheated death since the Roman Empire has taken a new host."

Severus had gone deathly pale, even more so than usual, as Dumbledore finished his tale. "Perhaps Headmaster…perhaps Moody is right. We should align ourselves with Nox and her Guardians."

"No." Dumbledore said quickly, slamming his hand against his desk and waking Fawkes from his slumber. _'That was…a little over the top perhaps.'_ "We can't trust Nox. I believe she is as much a Dark Lady as Tom is a Dark Lord. A different kind of course. But dark none the less. We can't offer ourselves to the wolves just to protect us from the snakes. No. We cannot align with her. Right now our best choice is to let Nox and Tom fight amongst each other and whittle each other down while we protect the innocents. And when one defeats the other, we will sweep in and clean up the mess they make."

Severus didn't look convinced. Although neither did Moody when he'd told him his beliefs about Nox. But just Moody had, Dumbledore knew that Severus would see the right of it and do things his way. "Alright." Severus sighed. "We'll do things your way. But I'm keeping a close eye on my snakes this year. And everyone else as well. So help me Headmaster…if need be I will start expelling students just to get them out of the country." And with that, one of Dumbledore's only friends turned tail and marched out of his office.

Once the door was shut behind him, Dumbledore reached up and tiredly rubbed at his eyes. _'Why can't anyone see that I'm doing what must be done? For the good of all?'_

Feeling a slight tug at his sleeve, Dumbledore reached without looking and popped Fawkes atop his head lightly. Pulling his hand away from his eyes, he found his familiar standing close to him, his beak pecking at the cuffs on his right arm. 'After the Elder Wand again my old friend?' Dumbledore thought fondly.

His familiar had let his distaste for the legendary wand be quite well known ever since he'd won it off of Gellert over sixty years ago. Several times he'd actually gotten a hold of the wand and tried to fly away, only for Dumbledore to catch him and reclaim the wand. It's what led Dumbledore to always carrying his wand in its holster and only taking it out when he had need of it. _'It's understandable I guess.'_ Dumbledore sighed, scratching under his familiar's beak. _'Phoenix's are the ultimate symbol of life and death in harmony. And the Death Stick…well the name speaks for itself.'_

* * *

Sitting in the dirt with her back up against a tree, Narcissa winced as she pulled back on the bandage that covered her midsection. The bandage was coated in dried blood. _'I hope that Dobby gets back soon._ ' Narcissa winced as she pressed the bandage back down on her still slightly bleeding side. _'I need a new bandage._ '

They'd been on the run for what felt like weeks but had truthfully only been a day, maybe two at the most. The Dark Lord had been apparently less than pleased with her abrupt departure and had sent several of his followers out after her. How they were managing to track her, she had no idea, but they were never far behind. And with her in the condition that she was, they were unable to fight them off. So they were left with their only option left to them. Run. They'd been apparating, blinking and doing whatever they could to evade their pursuers that Narcissa was no longer even sure if they were in the British Isles anymore.

Wincing as the wound in her side pulsed, Narcissa shifted trying to find a more comfortable spot to sit. Dobby had done what he could to bring the stream of blood leaving her down to a trickle, however she was still losing a fair amount of blood.

Thankfully Dobby had managed to snag a small vial of blood replenishing potion from somewhere so she wasn't at risk of going into shock from blood loss. But she could feel her strength leaving her with each passing hour. _'We need to find the Guardians…soon. For both of our sakes.'_

"Mistress." Dobby called out softly as he appeared next to her with a louder than usual pop. "Dobby found…bandages for Mistress."

"Thank you Dobby." Narcissa thank him, taking the bandages, which she was sure he'd stolen from somewhere, and using them to replace her soiled bandages. "Are they…are they close?"

Nodding, Dobby flopped down beside her as he started sobbing. "Yes Mistress…Mistress? Dobby sorry. Dobby doesn't have the strength to blink with Mistress again. Dobby a pathetic elf! Dobby a disgrace!"

"No you're not Dobby." Narcissa said soothingly, reaching out and grabbing his hand. "The fault is mine. No other elf could've done what you've done so far."

It was the truth. House elves drew their strength from the ones they were bonded to. In Dobby's case, her. However as almost all of her internal magical energy was being spent trying to keep the wound in her side at bay, she had little to offer Dobby. And with how much he'd been doing recently, his own power was starting to wane. Grabbing her wand, Narcissa sat up slightly straighter. "Dobby, I need you to do something for me."

Dobby's eyes widened. "Anything Mistress! Dobby would do anything for you!"

Licking her lips, Narcissa looked around the wooded area they were in. 'If they keep for from…we only have an hour maybe two before they'll show up again.' "I need you to create a small capped vial for me. And make it unbreakable."

Dobby frowned at her request, but with a snap of his fingers a small vial appeared on her lap. Touching her wand to her temple, Narcissa concentrated on what she wanted before slowly pulling her wand away from her head. A silver string attached to the tip. Placing the memory in the vial, she corked it and then held it out for Dobby. "When they come again Dobby. You are to take this vial and run. Find Nox or Sirius or anyone in league with the Guardians and ensure they get this."

Dobby's eyes went impossibly wide as he shook his head. "No! No no no no! Dobby won't leave Mistress behind! Dobby will be a good elf and ensure that Mistress gets to kind Gua-"

"Dobby." Narcissa said sharply, instantly regretting doing so as her side throbbed. "This is an order. Should they find us again, you are to leave and not look back."

Dobby started crying, but he couldn't deny an order from her once it'd been given. So with a more than slightly shaking hand he reached out and took the vial from her.

No sooner had the vial left her hand, than Narcissa heard the unmistakable sounds of magicals apparating nearby. _'Well…that certainly didn't take them all that long.'_ Dobby's head whipped around towards the direction of the sound before turning back to her. His eyes were wide and pleading. Begging to allow him to stay with her.

Reaching out, she took his hand in her own. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes as she stared at the little house elf. 'Good lord…I'm crying. If my younger self could just see me now.' "Go Dobby." Narcissa managed to get out through her tears. "Go. Find a new Master or Mistress to serve, preferably in the Guardians. And serve them as well as you've served me."

With one final wail, Dobby threw his arms around her shoulders and held her tight. Narcissa returned his affection and then…then he was gone. And Narcissa was left alone with Merlin only knew how many Death Eaters approaching.

 _'Well_.' She thought while drawing her wand and, using the last little bit of magic she had left in her body, started enchanting a few objects while laying down a couple of wards. _'Not necessarily the way I'd been planning or hoping to go out. But…but I suppose that this isn't so bad. Is this…is this what being noble is? Fighting for a cause that you truly believe in with all of your heart? Huh. I guess it isn't too bad. Maybe those bloody idiotic Gryffindor's actually are onto something.'_

Soon enough, the Death Eaters were close enough that she could see them through the trees. And of course, as she could see them, they could see her as well. As the group of a dozen stepped into the small clearing, stopping well away from her, one stepped forward and removed his mask. "Well well…Narcissa Malfoy. Never thought that you of all people would betray the Dark Lord."

Narcissa moaned. _'Of all of the Death Eaters he could've sent after me…he had to send this idiot. Merlin…what a final insult.'_ "Goyle…he had to send you of all people. Merlin…the Dark Lord surely does know how to add insult to injury." Narcissa managed to get out as she awkwardly got up from her position, wand in her right hand and her left covering her side. "Tell me…how did someone as idiotic as you actually manage to keep up with me?"

Goyle's jaw tightened at the insult. "It was the little memento that you're carrying from Rabastan." Goyle explained, taking a single step forward. _'Just a few more steps until you reach the line arsehole.'_ "We were able to track the curse. And I must say Narcissa, I don't envy your fate. The Dark Lord has something special in mind for you once we bring you back."

"That's assuming that you'll be able to get me to go back." Narcissa growled, raising her wand. "I have no desire to go back to that hell and follow the fucking moron down the path of death and destruction."

"That decision isn't yours to make." Goyle shrugged before turning towards those following him. "The Dark Lord commanded that she be brought in alive. Short of that…she's yours for now."

One of the more anxious Death Eaters charged forward, although what his intention in doing so was a complete mystery. A mystery that would never be solved as he crossed over one of the many enchantment lines she'd laid down. As soon as he did, the branches of the tree above him came to life, shooting down and wrapping around his neck before pulling him high up into the foliage where he disappeared. The only sight of him being his wand as it clattered uselessly to the ground.

"You didn't think that Bellatrix was the only one skilled of the three of us did you?" Narcissa asked cockily, taking up a dueling stance despite her injury.

Snarling at her, Goyle turned towards the rest of the flunkies he'd brought with him. "What are you all waiting for!? She's half dead! Get her or face the Dark Lord and the Emperor's wrath!"

Narcissa started throwing every curse and hex she was able to do so, but despite her bravado she was not her sister. And she was wounded. So even though she managed to thin their numbers by four, the remaining Death Eaters managed to get through her spells, traps and wards and tackle her to the ground before wrenching her wand away from her hand.

"Fucking bitch!" Goyle shouted, striding up to her and kicking her hard in her injured side while the other's held her down. "Betray us!" Another kick. "Betray the Dark Lord!" Another kick. "Make a fool of my friend!" Another kick, this one delivered with enough force that Narcissa's body curled in on itself despite the hands holding her in place.

Her entire body ached, her side burned, her eyes were full of tears as feet and fist fell upon her again and again until they all became just a blur of movement and pain.

"Enough!" She heard a voice yell as the attacks suddenly ceased. "We'll kill her at this rate. And none of us want to share her fate."

Gasping for breath, Narcissa moved craned her neck. Her wand was just a slight distance away. If she could reach it…she could put her life into a spell and end them all.

A heavy foot came down hard upon her wand, snapping the wood in half. "None of that now." Goyle laughed as his hand fisted into her hair and wrenched her bloodied face up from the dirt. "I'm going to enjoy watching the Dark Lord do the same to you as he did to Rabastan you utter bi-"

A gust of wind blew past them. Goyle let out a terrified cry as his hand let go of her hair and he was thrown away by the wind. She vaguely heard something…strange. Then bright lights flashing over her head as heavy footfalls surrounded her. She tried to look around, but her vision had blurred to the point where she couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face let alone those around her.

"-seven dead…one in the trees and two more-"

Narcissa tried to hear what was being said around her. But her hearing was fading fast and the words were quickly losing their meaning. A soft pair of hands laid themselves on her shoulder as she felt herself gently being rolled over. Just above her was a face that was almost indistinguishable to her at this point save for his eyes. The man had…kind eyes. "-name is Obi-Wan Kenobi. Ma'am. Can you hear me?"

Narcissa tried to focus in on the man with kind eyes even as another wide set appeared above her. "Mistress said to find Guardians." Dobby proclaimed excitedly. "Dobby did as Mistress commanded…and brought Guardians back. Mistress cannot leave Dobby now!"

For the first time in a long time, Narcissa felt a true smile grace her lips as she stared at Dobby and the man with kind eyes. _'The Guardians…I'm safe…for the first time in a long time…I'm safe.'_


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Alright…here we go again folks. And once again, I'm sorry if I didn't get to your reviews from the last chapter, life was more than a little hectic for me. I was only able to answer those reviews that asked questions. But I really appreciate the reviews and the support! Now…on that note I was not expecting the black lash of bringing Vitiate back into the fold. There were clues within the story (a few even pointed them out) that said that he wasn't dead. A few people have even theorized with mild accuracy about how he's still alive (with one reader I was PMing hitting the nail on the head).**

 **Now I don't want to go into a long winded tirade about my decision to bring him back…so I'm not going to. But I will say this, with divided as Earth is, there are only two ways to unite the world. Conquer it. Or give us an enemy that would force us to fight together. And Voldemort did not fit either of those profiles (despite his cunning and power). And if you compare the two, in my opinion, Vitiate makes Sidious look like a chump.**

 **Anyway, a big thank you to HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon for the beta work!**

 **Chapter 19**

Standing just outside of the entrance of the Temple, Grand Master Nox watched as the LAAT carrying Obi-Wan and Narcissa quickly made its final descent towards them. According the Master Kenobi, Narcissa' injuries had reached the point where a trip through a portkey or through apparation could've killed her. So they stabilized her as best they could and flew as fast they could. Of course the fact that news that Narcissa had been wounded so severely did absolutely nothing to calm down Andromeda Tonks, who was literally shaking in anticipation as the two of them watched the LAAT touch down.

The moment the ramp opened, Andromeda ran from her side crying out, "Cissy!" At the top of her lungs as the men Nox had sent out brought out a stretcher with a woman lying upon it.

Waiting for them to come to her, Nox took one look down at Narcissa and tried her best not to wince. She'd seen a lot worse in her time as a Dark Lord. Hell, she'd inflicted a lot worse than this. But still, it wasn't a pretty sight to behold when it was someone you knew. "What's her condition?" She asked Obi-Wan, who strangely enough, was holding onto the injured woman's hand despite her being unconscious.

"She's in bad shape." Obi-Wan winced, as he watched Andromeda wave her wand over her sister as the troopers paused momentarily. "We treated her as best we could…the worse of her injuries is the one on her side. We stopped the flow of blood but- but we can't get the wound to close."

"It's a dark curse." Andromeda said hoarsely, her eyes red as unshed tears swelled in the corners of her eyes. "It's not meant to close, only to slowly get bigger over time. The fact that you were able to halt, let alone stop its growth is remarkable. Thank you Master Kenobi. You…you probably saved her life with what you did."

"You can thank the little one for halting the progress long enough for us to get to her." Obi-Wan said, nodding towards the back where a house elf was trying to stay relatively out of sight, but still near to his mistress.

"Dobby?" Andromeda called out, sinking to her knees and wrapping the small house elf in a bone crushing hug. "Thank you so much Dobby!"

"She's not out of danger just yet." Nox sighed, doing her own diagnosis of Narcissa. "But she definitely stands a better chance now thanks to the actions of Dobby. Master Kenobi, Master Fay is finishing her preparations in the infirmary. Please bring Narcissa there immediately."

"Yes ma'am." Master Kenobi nodded before motioning for them to move forward. "Come on, let's get a move on people."

Moving aside, Nox watched with a sinking feeling in her gut as Andromeda and Kenobi brought the woman into the Temple for treatment. _'She knew what she was getting into._ ' Nox tried to tell herself. _'She knew the consequences if she got caught. She's not the first spy of mine to get caught…and a few of them suffered worse fates. Yet still…why does this one feel so…different?'_

"Mistress Noxie?"

Looking down and to her left, Nox found the small elf, Dobby, standing by her heel. "Yes…Dobby was it?"

Dobby's head bobbed up and down rapidly. "Yes Mistress Noxie!" Dobby smiled slightly, before it faltered as he reached down to what passed for a belt and pulled out a small vial with a silvery substance within. "Mistress Narcissa…she wanted Dobby to give this to Guardians."

Reaching down, Nox took the offered vial and held it up to her eye level. ' _A memory…what did you see that forced you to take such drastic steps Narcissa?'_

"Thank you Dobby, you've done yourself and your Mistress proud." Nox complimented the elf, making the little guy puff out his chest in pride. "If you wish you may stay with your Mistress."

Dobby's smile faltered as he began to wring his hands. "Dobby wants to…but Dobby won't be any help. Dobby wants to help Mistress Narcissa. Mistress Narcissa wants to help Mistress Noxie and Guardians. Dobby wants to help Mistress Noxie and Guardians."

Nox felt herself smile despite herself. "Well Dobby, if you want you can find Winky. I'm sure she can find you something to do." Dobby's eyes lit up at the prospect of being helpful. "Also, I'd like for you to gather all of the Guardian Masters plus my son Harry, Ahsoka, Master Yoda, Sirius Black, Amelia Bones, and Xenophilius Lovegood once your Mistress is stable. I have a feeling that we're all going to want to see what your Mistress saw."

"Yes Mistress Noxie!" Dobby exclaimed, bobbing his head. "Dobby goes right now!" Raising his hand, he snapped his fingers and disappeared.

Now alone, Nox held the vial containing the memory up again. _'Hopefully Narcissa will be able to provide us the answers that we desperately need.'_

* * *

Walking out in the courtyard of the Malfoy Manor, Darth Voldemort, Voice of the Emperor, couldn't help but sneer slightly at the sight before him. Scattered around the courtyard like cockroaches were nearly fifty muggle mercenaries. "You wanted fire power my Lord Voice." Darth Blackwood stated, walking up beside him. "And I brought you men. Battle hardened and willing to follow any order as long as the money is good. More than a match for any soldier this Darth Nox might have under her command. And as an added insult, they are all equipped with weaponry and armor stolen from one of Nox's many warehouses."

Voldemort didn't like it. These muggles didn't deserve to even grovel at his feet let alone fight by his side. _"Calm yourself my Voice."_ The Emperor spoke to him. _"Even during the days of the ancient Sith Empire, we did not rely solely on the Sith. Normal men and women were needed as well. And you've already seen what well trained non-magical individuals can do during your failed battles against Nox. Do not let your pride force me to rethink your position as my Voice."_

"Well done Darth Blackwood." Voldemort managed to get out in an even tone. "Are Nightshade and Mortis ready?"

"Yes my Lord Voice." Blackwood nodded. "They're waiting for us at the rendezvous point with a handful of their best, as you ordered my Lord."

"Good." Voldemort nodded, turning his back on the muggle mercenaries. "I want them portkeyed to the rendezvous point within the hour. Our guest of honor will soon be with us."

"As you command, my Lord Voice."

* * *

Holding open the door for his girlfriend, Percy couldn't help the dumb expression on his face as she smiled brightly at him as she walked into the restaurant. Even after years of dating her, he still couldn't help but be completely besot with her each time he laid eyes on her. She was perfection incarnate. And the fact that tonight they would be dining with the Minister of Magic himself and his Undersecretary was just icing on the cake as the muggles would say. Tonight would be the night that he would promoted to a position in Fudge's cabinet. There was no doubt in his mind about.

"Oh relax Percy." Anna laughed as she swatted at his arm. "If you try to straighten your dress robes one more time I swear that you're going to wear out the stitching!"

"Sorry," Percy apologized. "It's just…tonight is the night. I just know that it is."

"You'll get everything that you deserve Percy." Anna smiled brightly as she reached out and touched his cheek. "I know that for a fact because you are you. Now come on. It's rude to keep the Minister himself waiting!"

Falling in line behind her, Percy smiled as he reached down and felt at the small box that was practically burning a hole in his pocket. _'Once I get my promotion.'_ Percy promised himself, completely absorbed in following the beauty in front of him. _'I'm going to ask her.'_

As they walked into the main area of the restaurant Percy noticed something. The entire place was devoid of any and all occupants. Except for the table in the center were three individuals sat. "Ah, Percy my boy! So glad that you managed to join us!" The Minister said jovially, rising from his seat. "And you brought your lovely girlfriend with you as well. Wonderful!"

"Thank you very much for inviting us Minister." Percy smiled widely, shaking the Minister's hand, nearly shaking out of joy in the process of doing so. "Madam Umbridge. Lord Malfoy. It's…this is an unexpected honor."

"Well young Percy, I've heard some wonderful things about you." Lord Malfoy drawled, motioning for Percy to take his seat. "And I'm heartened to see that your extended family's current…predicament hasn't swayed you from the Ministry."

Percy ground his teeth slightly at the mention of his family. Ever since his family sided with that Nox woman, his life had become a living hell in the Ministry. Didn't they understand what they were doing siding against the Ministry? Utter madness. Luckily though, the Minister and his undersecretary seemed to understand his predicament and protected him from the backlash of negative criticism. "Of course, Lord Malfoy." Percy smiled, helping Anna take her seat before taking his own. "I am loyal to the Ministry of Magic and first and foremost."

Seeing that his answer pleased the Minister and his undersecretary, Percy chalked that little comment up as a win. "Um, Minister…not that I'm complaining but…where are the menus?"

"Oh don't worry about that." Lord Malfoy smiled, lifting his cane up and setting it on top of the table. "We won't be staying long."

Percy blinked. Then he felt the unmistakable pull at his naval as the table was turned into a portkey and whisked the five of them away. The sudden spinning left Percy more than slightly disoriented, but across from him he could see that of the people at the table…only he and Anna were surprised by this turn of events.

Before Percy could even begin to think where they might be going, their ride stopped and Percy fell hard onto a cold stone floor. "Uh, Minister?" Percy groaned, rolling over and looking up.

Only to freeze as he found himself looking into a pair of red eyes that could only belong to one person. The Dark Lord Voldemort. "Welcome to Azkaban…Percy Weasley."

* * *

Coming out of the pensieve, Harry had to fight down the immediate urge he'd felt to throw up all over the floor. And it wasn't just because of the disorienting effects of the pensieve either. What they'd just seen…it almost defied explanation. He did far better than some of the others though. Master Mallie had at least managed to get a few steps away from the pensieve before going to her knees and throwing up. Amelia hadn't been as fortunate. As soon as her feet touched the ground she immediately doubled over and began retching loudly. Ahsoka had managed to handle it slightly better than him, but her face had definitely gone pale.

The one person that truly worried Harry however was his mother. Throughout the course of the entire memory she didn't utter a single sound. Not a throat clear. Not a sigh. Not a curse. Nothing. And even now that they were out, she stayed silent as she took up her seat behind her desk and held her head in her hands.

"Speaking through this Dark Lord, Sith Emperor Vitiate he is."

His mother didn't speak to answer Master Yoda's question. Her response came only in the slight nodding of her head as she kept her head in her hands. "I thought that you said that this Emperor was destroyed?" Master Ti asked with a slightly edged tone.

The look his mother shot the togruta Master as she raised her head from her hands could've made even stone flinch. "He was destroyed." His mother answered, her voice eerily calm. "I spent years developing that technique through both Sith and Jedi rituals and practices. And I've used it multiple times to destroy the soul shards of Riddle. What was in that tomb in Egypt was Vitiate. His soul. He. Was. Destroyed."

"Perhaps." Yoda murmured as he shuffled his way up into one of the few chairs in the room directly across the desk from Harry's mother. "The same method to cheat death as Riddle, used he did."

His mother stared at Master Yoda for a moment before she lowered her head down till her forehead was touching the cool surface of her desk. "Of course he did. That's the only way he could've survived for so long."

Harry took one step forward to try and console his mother, but stopped as her fist slammed down onto the surface of her desk hard enough break her metal desk clean in half. "Fuck!" She shouted, her voice accented with the Force making everyone save for Master Yoda take a step back as the sheer power within her voice moved them. "I should've fucking listened to my instincts! He was acting uncharacteristic! And he didn't put up enough of a fight in Egypt! Of course he had a fucking back up plan in place."

Spinning out of her chair, she began pacing back and forth. The air around her distorting slightly as her eyes started to lose their greenish tint in favor of yellow. "The method for shearing and storing one's soul was a Sith Force technique! Of course it would take a Sith to teach someone on this world how to use it! The only way they would truly know how to teach it was if they'd already done it to themselves! And the fucking dementors…fucking damn it all! They weren't byproducts of Sith Alchemy. They were products of Sith Alchemy! Fuck!"

Feeling a hand grab his own, Harry looked down and discovered that Ahsoka had reached out and grabbed him. It was only then that he realized that he'd actually been shaking slightly out of fear. He'd never, in his entire life, seen his mother his upset and…and it was frightening.

"And that's not even the fucking worse part of this debacle!" His mother continued to rant as everyone in the room, even Tonks and Harry, gave her a wide berth to do so. "We can't fucking kill Riddle until we destroy Vitiate and his soul containers!"

That sent a chill through the room, or rather chilled the room even further as everyone tried to figure out the meaning behind her words. "Explain this to us, you need to Master Nox." Master Yoda said calmly, as if sitting in the maelstrom that was his mother's fury was the most natural thing in the world.

Pausing in her pacing, Nox took a deep breath. "We don't know how many soul containers Vitiate has created. But his soul is fragmented into n-plus-one fragments. 'N' being the number of soul containers. And one being the piece that is within Riddle that makes him the Emperor's Voice. If we were to destroy Riddle, then Vitiate would simply find a new host and stay hidden for however long he needed to do so. But now that he is in Riddle, he's locked in. So first we have to destroy Vitiate's soul containers. Then we need to destroy the aspect of him that is his voice within Riddle. And then we can kill Riddle. That is the only way to ensure that the bastard will stay dead this time."

"Doesn't sound too hard." Asajj shrugged. "We just need to find these soul container things and destroy them right? You guys have already destroyed what? Four of them from this Voldemort guy. Finding three more shouldn't be that bad."

"If only." Sirius scoffed. "Firstly my dear, we have no way of even knowing how many of these bloody things he's made. He could've made one, or he could've made a dozen. Then there's the question of what exactly did he use to hide his soul fragments. He could've used an old boot for all we know. Truthfully, we've been bloody lucky as hell with Riddle's horcruxes. Harry was one intentional or not. My brother spirited another away, at the cost of his own life. Lucius practically handed one to us. One was in an old family home of Riddle's, that one we actually had to work for. We know where one is but we can't get to it without thoroughly pissing off one of our allies in the goblins. And we have no idea where his last one is."

"His Horcruxes are only the beginning I'm afraid." Nox continued on, her temper slightly abated. "Vitiate mentioned his 'children'."

"His offspring?" Kenobi asked, rubbing the back of his head. "Sure I can see where they would be dangerous. But there can't be that many of them. Can there?"

This mother shook her head. "I'm not talking about his children in the literal sense. The Emperor's Children are Force sensitive sleeper agents. Their creation is a secret known only to the Emperor himself, and now this Darth Nightshade as well apparently. A Child of the Emperor is incredibly powerful in the Force and won't even know they're Force sensitive until the Emperor awakens them. And once he does, they will be completely and utterly devoted to him.

"During the war back in my era, the Emperor's Children nearly brought down the Republic. The First Son, the leader of the Children, was a highly respect Jedi Master on the Jedi Council and didn't even know it. That should tell you just how deeply imbedded they can become and how near impossible it is to even identify one until it is too late. Fuck…we might even have one in the Temple right now."

"A thought, we cannot have." Master Yoda countered sharply, using his cane to tap the floor loudly. "Divide, this would make us. Divided, we cannot be against such a foe."

Sighing loudly, Harry watched as his mother shook her head. "Perhaps. And unfortunately even if I had the time and will to search every mind in the Temple, it would all be for naught as I don't even know what I'm looking for."

Harry tightened his lips as his mother moved back around and sat down behind her now ruined desk. Pulling out her wand, his mother tapped it to the surface and cast a repair spell to fix the ruined piece of furniture. "We still have an advantage." Master Fay spoke up. "And that advantage is you, Master Nox. No matter what this Emperor may have counted on in his plans, it is obvious that he had not counted on your presence here. It is an advantage. You know this Emperor. You know how he thinks and what he might have planned."

"You're giving me too much credit Fay." Nox said, shaking her head. "The Emperor didn't share his plans with anyone save himself. I doubt even Riddle knows the full extent of his plans."

"All the same, you served him once upon a time." Master Fay pressed. "You know the actions he took before. Actions he is likely to take again considering that by your own accounting they worked for the most part. What will his plan be Nox? If anyone has a clue as to what he might be trying achieve or how he will go about achieving it, it will be you. So, what are his plans?"

Harry watched on silently with everyone else in the room as his mother furrowed her brow and began rubbing at her eyes. "Last time he distracted the Republic by engaging them in open warfare. Once the battle lines had been clearly drawn, he activated his Children within the ranks of the Republic to destabilize both their military and their political prowess."

Pausing, Nox got up from her seat once more and began pacing, her hands moving about slightly as she talked. "He will likely do the same here. Open hostilities against the non-magical world…more than likely he'll use the dementors for this as the non-magical's have no defenses against them.

"Then once the magical world is outed in as violent a fashion as possible and the masses begin to panic, he'll activate his Children to cripple or bring the major world powers under his control. And if what we heard is true, then this Nightshade has been implementing his Children throughout the world for over sixty years. Force only knows how many government and military agencies she's managed to infect."

"Merlin help us." Amelia groaned, her hands going protectively to her middle. "How do we stop it?"

"We can't stop the Children. Simply because we don't know who they are or even where they are." Nox said, shaking her head. "At best we can only warn everyone we can and hope that they take us seriously. Other than that…the only we can do is prepare ourselves for the aftermath. The only way to stop them is destroying Vitiate. During the war last time, after the Hero of Tython defeated Vitiate all of the Children went insane. They either killed themselves, were easily killed by others or lost their powers completely. A few were taken in by the Jedi and healed…and one, Kira, the Hero of Tythons wife, was spared that fate because she'd already been cleansed of the Emperors touch long before then."

"Advantage you possess for certain, you all do." Yoda's words drew everyone's attention to him. Yoda merely cocked his head to the side and raised his glimmer stick to wave at all the Guardians present, "Jedi, this Emperor believes he fights. Jedi, you are not. Guardians, you are."

If it was any other time than what the present former Jedi would take offense to those words. But Ahsoka caught on to Yoda's meaning and connected it to something else that struck her. "Wait, maybe that's our major advantage and it fits the prophecy about Harry."

Harry turned to look at Ahsoka with a raised brow, "What part of the prophecy has to do with not being Jedi?"

"Remember the second part? 'Woe to the Lords of Day and Night'. That tells us it's a warning, which the Guardians are coming. Neither Vitiate or Dumbledore can see us as we truly are: in balance."

"So you're thinking because Vitiate looks at us as Jedi he will underestimate us?" Aayla had a thoughtful look as processed the idea, "In a way this likely won't be limited to just Vitiate. Sidious would automatically think of us as Jedi when we strike back against his Empire."

"There is something else that I'm curious about." Master Kenobi spoke up, scratching at his beard. "This…Emperor seems like one who chooses his words carefully. He said, 'the world shall feel the weight of my imprisoned Wrath'. Is there any significance to that Master Nox?"

Nox actually looked slightly surprised at that. "There is." Nox nodded as she stared off into the distance. "Back in the days of the old Empire, the title 'Emperor's Wrath' was bestowed upon the handpicked personal assassin of the Emperor. I suppose it isn't strange that he picked a new Wrath. After all, the last one that I knew about was Azcarin. And he's been dead for over three millennia now."

"Azcarin?" Xeno Lovegood started, drawing everyone's attention. Not so much for the question, but rather from the tone with which he'd said it. "Can you spell that name out for me Master Nox. Preferably in English or even better in Old English. Maybe even Latin if you can manage."

Harry and everyone else in the room looked at each other curiously as Nox pulled out her wand and proceeded to write the name out three times. Once in English, once in Old English and once in Latin. When she wrote out the name in Latin, all color drained from Xeno's face. "Oh dear God no."

"What is it?" Nox asked impatiently, waving the fiery words away. "What is the significance of his name?"

Licking his lips, Xeno almost seemed to struggle to speak. "That name…it was found on an old tablet nearly a century ago. Within a hidden compartment in a deep cell block that was undergoing reservations within Azkaban Prison. Many of my colleges believed that it was the original name of the prison. Azcarin Prison. Or rather, Azcarin's Prison."

This time it was his mother's turn to go completely pale. "No…no it can't be."

A small decorative rock that'd been laying on the floor, after it'd fallen off the desk when it'd been destroy, began vibrating so violently that it began skipping on the floor. Holding her hand out, the rock shot up off the ground and into Nox's hand. As she stared at the rock, her face went even paler. "Fuck!"

Dropping the stone, Nox hit the Temple wide communicator that would allow her voice to carry throughout the entirety of the Temple. "Everyone report to the northern landing platform now! Full battle attire! This is not a fucking drill! Every Guardian; Master, Knight and Apprentice report as well! I want all LAATs fueled and ready for immediate departure and I want every pilot, both Nighthawk and Blade squadrons, in their fighters in the air as of ten fucking minutes ago! Move!"

"Mother?!" Harry called out, more than slightly alarmed by his mother's sudden shift.

"Riddle is moving on Azkaban– or rather Azcarin's Prison." His mother explained as she swept past all of them and out of her office, leaving the rest of them almost running to catch up to her. "Whether it's Azcarin or some remnant of him doesn't matter. All that matters is that we cannot let Riddle, or rather Emperor Vitiate, gain something of his deadliest tool back. Amelia! While were gone I want you to work with Winky and contact every government agency that you can and warn them that a terrorist threat is imminent. Move! Now!"

* * *

Running through the halls of Temple, Cedric Diggory, newly appointed pilot within the Guardian support staff, struggled to get his flight suit on as he ran. He'd been spending a rather pleasant afternoon with Susan, which meant the two of them were on the couch and quickly approaching the point of no return, when the general alarm had activated throughout the entire Temple. Once that happened, Susan gave him one last kiss and disapparated away, leaving him with a rather "hard" problem as he stumbled around his room trying to get dressed.

 _'Damn it.'_ He muttered as he hopped up and down on one foot while trying to get his boot on. ' _Why do muggles feel the need to wear such tight fitting clothing!?'_

Finally managing to get his foot into his boot, Cedric sprinted the last dozen or so meters to the lower hanger. He winced as he saw that he was the last one to arrive. "Navigator Diggory. You're late boy! Fall in!"

Scanning the crowd, he found Viktor quickly and took up his spot next to him. "Alright, listen up all of you cause I'm only going to say this once!" The leader of Nighthawk squadron called out. "Grand Master Nox has order the full mobilization of both Nighthawk squadron and Blade squadron."

Licking his lips, Cedric felt a small thrill erupt in his chest. Nighthawk squadron got to fly in the mission last time, leaving the still forming Blade squadron behind to train in the simulators. The two squadrons were quite different from one another. Where the Nighthawks all flew the F1-Alpha Fighter Interceptor which were fast and specialized more in air to air combat.

Blade squadron however, the squadron the Cedric and Viktor were in, flew the F1-Beta Fighters, which while similar looking to the F1-Alpha's, the Beta's required two pilots, were slightly larger, and were better equipped for dealing with ground targets. The only reason the Nighthawks got to go on the mission last time was because they were more skilled.

"The Guardians the ground forces will be traveling by LAATs." The commander continued, forcing Cedric back to the present. "We'll be providing cover for five LAATs until we reach our target."

"What is the target?" Viktor asked.

The commander visibly stiffened. "Azkaban." The one word was enough to chill the very air. "Grand Master Nox has received intel that the Dark Lord and a lot of his followers are heading back to the island to try and retrieve something. Our mission is simple. We find the enemy, kill as many as we can to open a landing spot for the LAATs and then provide assistance wherever needed? Any bright questions? No. Good. Get to your fighters now!"

The group broke up as everyone ran to their assigned fighter. "Well Viktor." Cedric breathed, climbing up the ladder and settling into his seat behind the famous Quidditch seeker. Being the better flyer, Viktor had been chosen to be the pilot while Cedric had been assigned to be his co-pilot. "Here we go."

* * *

Striding across the landing pad with Tonks, Harry, his Valkyries, and her young Apprentice Astoria, who was armed with nothing more than her wand at her side, Nox felt a burning rage forming within her that she hadn't felt in a long time. 'The bastard managed to elude me.' She cursed as she stepped up into the LAAT and moving off towards the front so that her son, his Valkyries, her Apprentice and the rest of the troopers that would be riding with them could squeeze in. The last two in where Bill and Fleur before the ramp closed.

Watching the others loading into the remaining four LAATs, Nox saw Kento speaking with Ron, Mallie speaking with Hannah and Aayla giving some last minute advice to Tracey. The three, like Astoria, didn't have lightsabers available to them, but with the help of Xeno and Amelia, they'd been able to remove the Trace from everyone's wand so the four would actually be able to participate in the fight to come.

Out on the landing pad she noticed that Arthur and Molly, who'd be staying behind with a few of the others, namely Amelia, were having a rather heated exchange as Molly kept trying to approach the LAATs with Arthur holding her back. _'No doubt she's trying to prevent her children from going._ ' Nox thought. _'Not that it matters. Her children are Guardians or of age. They must do their duty.'_

"When the battle begins Astoria, you will do everything that I say to the letter." Nox commanded, staring down at her Apprentice. She did have half a mind to leave her behind with Nat, Gabrielle, and the boys, but Astoria was almost thirteen and well trained. And she wouldn't shelter her Apprentice.

"Yes Master." Astoria nodded as she held onto the seat in front of her, as she was a slight bit too short to reach the handles hanging over their heads.

"Good." Nox nodded as the ship rocked slightly as it lifted off. "I want you, Ron, Tracey and Hannah to stay with the rear guard. Master Kento, Mallie and Aayla are all relaying the same orders to their apprentices."

Astoria didn't like the order, but Nox had trained her well enough not to question her orders in such a situation. "As you say, Master."

"Good." Nox said, turning towards the front and activating her comm-link. "Nighthawk and Blade squadron. You're clear to launch. Escort for the LAATs will be unnecessary at this time. Nighthawk and Blade squadron, I want you to do a high altitude pass over the island. Find out what we're getting ourselves into."

 **"Copy that Master Nox. Nighthawk and Blade squadron heading out."**

* * *

Stumbling down the stone stairway, Percy fought to keep his balance as a rough hand shoved him in the back and forced him on. "Move it pipsqueak."

Looking over his shoulder, Percy swallowed whatever retort he'd been planning on giving. Darth Blackwood, as he'd heard the name be named, was perhaps one of the largest men Percy had ever seen. The only one who was bigger was Hagrid, and he was a half-giant for Merlin's sake!

But it wasn't just the man's presence that kept Percy in line, it was Anna. His girlfriend had her hands bound in front of her and was currently on the receiving end of Bellatrix's wand. One false move and she'd suffer. A point the Dark Lord had made clear as he'd ordered Bellatrix to cast the Cruciatus Curse on Anna when they'd first arrived.

The Minister and Madam Umbridge were being escorted down with them as well. Although neither of them had their hands bound like Anna did. _'Could they…could they be in league with the Dark Lord?_ ' Percy thought, casting a quick glance towards Lord Malfoy, who he now knew without a shadow of a doubt was a willing Death Eater. _'No…they can't be. They're the Minister and his Undersecretary. They wouldn't have anything to do with the Dark Lord.'_

"Not much further now my boy." The Dark Lord's voice called up from ahead. "Come now. Don't be sshy. Come and ssee the hidden sssecret of Azkaban Prison."

Swallowing, Percy put one foot in front of the other as he descended deeper into the depths of the famous prison. Although it really wasn't much of a prison anymore. Or even a fortress for that matter. He knew from reports, and from the brief sighting he'd managed of the exterior of the prison, that the once formidable tower had been reduced to a good pile of rubble with only a few passageways remaining.

"Do you know my boy, that the Weasley family is descended from one of the oldest magical liness in the British Isless?" The Dark Lord asked him.

When he didn't answer right away, Bellatrix poked her wand into Anna's neck making her wince. "No." Percy answered quickly.

"That'sss a sshame." The Dark Lord continued as the passage they were walking down leveled out and opened into a large chamber room. The wall directly opposite was covered almost completely by one of the largest runic arrays Percy had ever seen. No doubt that his brother William would've loved it. But Percy…he could only feel dread as he gazed upon the display.

Rounding on him, the Dark Lord smiled at him while waving towards the wall. "You ssee…you're descended from a very powerful wizard who fought alongside a man named Aedan. A Jedi. The Hero of Tython they named him. Through their combined might they were able to create this blood ward to keep something locked away. Something that…you're going to help us reclaim."

Percy stared at the wall in front of him. ' _If the Dark Lord wants it…it can't be good.'_ He knew what his answer was. What it needed to be. Even if it cost him his life. "No."

Instead of angering the Dark Lord though, Voldemort merely smiled. "Ah. Good. You do have a sspine. I wass sstarting to worry that your brotherss and ssistesr inherited it all. But it'ss good to ssee that you at least have ssome sstrength in you. But unfortunately…I'm on a relatively delicate timetable my boy."

One elongated finger reached out and pressed itself underneath Percy's chin. "You ssee…this iss a very powerful ward. I could sspend monthss disrupting the ward sscheme and probably do nothing to it. But there iss a quicker method. The blood of the caster, or hisss descendent in thisss case can willingly disrupt the wardss sso they can be brought down. Do thiss, and you have my word that I will let you walk out of here with Anna unmolested. Do not…and well." The finger turned Percy's head to the side, where Bellatrix was holding her wand to Anna's throat. "Bellatrix can be even more creative than myself when administering pain my boy. Sso choose."

Percy didn't know what to do. He couldn't give the Dark Lord what he wanted…but Anna. He couldn't let her come to harm. It would destroy him.

"Sso be it. Bellatrix."

" _Crucio_!"

Anna screamed as Bellatrix laughed. Percy wanted to cringe and cover his ears as he listened to the love of his life scream in agony. But he couldn't. Something broke inside of him. Damn the world. It meant nothing to him anyway if he couldn't live with her. "Stop!" He cried, falling to his knees before the Dark Lord. "Please…I'll do it. Just stop…stop hurting her."

"Ssplendid." Voldemort clapped, prompting Bellatrix to stop and for Anna's screams to be reduced to a dull moan of pain. "Darth Blackwood, a dagger if you would."

Blackwood stomped over to him, each step making Percy cringe slightly on the inside. Pulling out his wand, the large man conjured up a dagger out of the air and held the hilt out for him to take. "Now it'ss quite easy my boy." Voldemort smiled as Percy took the dagger in hand. "All you need to do iss sslit your palm and presss it against the wall. Then ssay your name and that you willingly give your blood to undo thisss ward. And that'ss it. Easy enough, no?"

Licking his lips, Percy briefly debated turning around and plunging the dagger into the Dark Lord's heart. But he dismissed that as soon as it came to him. _'I wouldn't be the one to suffer.'_ Percy thought as he stepped towards the runic array. ' _Anna would…and I can't let anything happen to her.'_

Running the sharp edge against his palm, Percy winced as his hand started to bleed. "I, Percy Weasley," he began, pressing his bloodied hand against the wall. "Willingly give my blood as the descendent of the creator of this ward to bring it down. So mote it be."

Percy felt something pull from within him as his magic surged through his hand and into the wall. The runic array glowed brightly, pulsed once. And then disappeared completely from existence. "You ssee?" Voldemort called out, looking around as the wall began to separate in two. "Physical pain isn't the only way to get ssomeone to do ssomething for you. Now come, all of you. That includess you Percy and your little Anna. After all, don't you want to ssee what'ss inside?"

Let with no choice, Percy followed after the Dark Lord into the newly opened area. A purplish glow illuminated the room beyond, and Percy was left to gape at the source of the light. In the center of the large cavern that he'd opened, there was a transparent pyramid made of purplish light. And within the pyramid, hanging suspended in the air, was a single figure wearing a black cloak with his hood up.

Those following Percy and the Dark Lord quickly spread out as Voldemort walked forward to the edge of the pyramid. "Over three millennia ago, the Emperor ssealed his most loyal sservant away to wait for the time when he would be needed again. The Hero of Tython and his bitches couldn't get past this barrier…ssso the three of them and a local wizard placed a ward up around him to sseal him within hiss sstasiss. But now…that ward iss gone. It is time for the Emperor'ss Wrath, Azcarin, to awaken!"

The temperature in the room plummeted to the point where Percy could see his own breath in front of his face. The Dark Lord's body almost seemed to…glow as he raised his right hand towards the wall of light. White lightning shot out of his hand and impacted the wall, making everyone save for the Dark Lord to take a step back as the intensity of the attack nearly blinded everyone.

When the light cleared, the pyramid was gone. And the figure that'd been suspended in the air within was kneeling on the ground breathing heavily. " **Azcarin**." A voice that was clearly not Voldemort's, spoke through the Dark Lord's lips.

Walking forward, Voldemort held his hand out above the kneeling man. A dark mist formed beneath his palm before drifting down and into the kneeling figure. The figure threw his head back, his hood falling back in the process. Percy stared in shock at the creature that was kneeling before the Dark Lord, absorbing whatever it was that Voldemort was conjuring.

The most notable thing about him was his skin. It was red. Instead of eyebrows, he small…almost horns jutting out from his skull. And there were several other places on his face were his red skin was elevated in a way that was definitely not human. But it was his eyes that made Percy want to step back. His yellow eyes…they were filled only with malice.

After a long few moments, the Dark Lord lowered his hand and the red-skinned devil hunched back over. "Master." The red-skinned man breathed. "How long?"

 **"Three and a half millennia my Wrath."** The voice that was not Voldemort's spoke again.

The red skinned man looked up at the Dark Lord with a vicious smile. "Then it's time my Emperor?"

 **"Yes."** Voldemort nodded. **"Give it to me."**

Reaching into the folds of his robe, the man pulled out a metal cylinder with golden spikes and weaves decorating it. "Your lightsaber, my Emperor."

Percy wasn't quite sure what he'd been thinking when he saw the Death Eater standing next to him holding his wand loosely at his side. His only thought was that he needed to get Anna away from here immediately. Which was why he shoulder checked the Death Eater, which a force that would make his Quidditch loving brothers proud, and wrestled the wand away from Death Eater. He then grabbed the same Death Eater and pressed his stolen wand to the man's throat while staring at Bellatrix. "Let her go! Now!"

The Dark Lord turned around, his eyes were glowing a dark purple color, but then he blinked and they were back to their normal red. "What are you thinking boy?" Voldemort asked, his voice back to normal and tapping the cylinder thing against his palm. "There are hundredss of uss…and only one of you."

Tightening his hold on the wand, Percy tried his best to keep himself steady. "I've done what you've asked." He managed to get out with only a slight stutter. "Now let Anna, the Minister, Madam Umbridge and myself go. Or I kill this one."

Voldemort stared at for a long moment before his lips turned upwards. "Well…I guess you are a lion after all. However…four livess for one doesn't sseem like a fair trade. But the fact that you have the ballss to sstand against me so is noteworthy and brave. For that, I'll let you go. And for that one you're holding, I'll let you choose one other to leave with you in exchange for their life."

Percy winced. It wasn't what he'd wanted, but it was better than nothing at all. And besides, he already knew who he'd be choosing. "Anna."

Anna gave off a soft cry, and after a nod from Voldemort, Bellatrix let her go and she ran right into his arms forcing him to let go of his hostage so that he could catch her. "Thank you Percy." She murmured into his chest.

"I'm sorry Minister." Percy began before stopping as he looked at the Minister. He wasn't angry. Or anything. He was just…standing there. Looking at him blankly. It was only then that he noticed the slightly whitening of the Ministers eyes. "What have you done to him!?"

Voldemort stared at him and then turned his head towards the Minister. "I have done nothing. It was one of my loyal servants who placed the Minister under the Imperious Curse."

 _'One of his servants? But…in order to keep the curse going they would have to have almost constant contact with him which…no.'_ His eyes widened as he tightened his hold on Anna and turned towards the Undersecretary. "Yes Mr. Weasley." Madam Umbridge smiled brightly as her bindings disappeared and she drew her wand. "I am, and have always been a loyal vassal of the Dark Lord. It was I who ensured that Potter and the other Champions would be sent to the graveyard so that the Dark Lord could be resurrected. And it has been I whose been controlling the smear campaign against our enemies."

Percy couldn't believe his ears. This was a woman he looked up too! Someone he aspired to be! And she betrayed the Ministry to the Dark Lord! "Well," Voldemort sighed dramatically. "Sseeing as how we're getting ssecretss out in the open…I suppose that you've played your role long enough my dear."

Percy kept his wand trained on Umbridge, waiting for her to make a move. That was why he was completely caught unaware as something sharp was thrusted between his ribs. "How utterly pathetic."

Gasping, Percy stared down at the hilt that was sticking out of his ribs. And the hand holding onto said knife. "Anna…?" He breathed, stepping back in shock as the knife slipped out of him and the wand he'd taken slipped from his fingers. "Why…?

Striding forward, Voldemort windlessly summoned the dropped wand into his waiting hand. "Anna my dear, why don't you tell young Percy your full name."

Percy blinked, not understanding what he meant. _'I know her name! It's Anna…what? Why don't I…this doesn't make sense!'_

Anna smiled at the Dark Lord before turning back to him. "My full name is Annabelle Flint. The last remaining member of House Flint and loyal servant to Darth Voldemort, the Voice of the Emperor."

Percy felt all the strength leave him as the combination of the knife in his ribs and the metaphorical dagger to his heart sapped him of all his strength. _'No…no it's not possible!'_

"You are confused. Not to worry my boy. You're supposed to be confused. But I sshall end the mystery for you young Percy." The Dark Lord drawled, dragging his finger along Anna's jaw. And action which made the young woman look at the Dark Lord with utter devotion in her eyes.

"You see, I alwayss knew that I would need Weasley blood, willing Weasley blood, to break the sseal that held Azcarin in. And as I figured the rest of your family would be ssafely hiding behind the Guardiansss if Vlad failed to capture them, you were the most logical target. Sso I had Umbridge spike your drink with a potion that dulled your memory of your true ssweetheart, and then Annabelle came in after her and confounded you ssso that you believed that sshe wass alwayss your girl. Sshe then continuously dosed you with a low dose of love potion sso that you would become utterly and completely devoted to her. And that you would willingly do anything, even break an ancient sseal, if it meant that you sshe would be ssaved."

 _'No_ …' Percy through desperately, hoping beyond hope that this wasn't real. That it was all just a bad dream and that he would wake up beside Anna soon. "Anna…tell me that it isn't tru-"

"Silence worm!" Anna screamed, stepping forward and slapping him hard enough to send him to the floor.

The slap broke something in Percy. And like a dam letting go he knew. Everything the Dark Lord had just told him had been the truth. And he'd fallen for it. Hook, line, and sinker. "And that remindss me." Voldemort drawled, turning towards the wizard he'd disarmed while holding out his wand. "I believe that thiss iss yourss."

The wizard nodded and reach out for his wand. Only to stiffen as a length of red light erupted out of the cylinder in Voldemort's hand and pierced him through the chest. "Pathetic fool. Being disarmed so easily." Voldemort growled as he ripped the blade of light out of the man's chest, letting the body fall to the floor.

Percy stared down in horror at the dead man before swallowing hard. _'I'm…I'm going to die down here. Shite…why didn't I listen to my family! Is this…is this my punishment for betraying them and…fuck…I can't even remember her name anymore! Damn it…they stole everything from me!'_

If Percy had his wand, or any wand for that matter, he would've conjured up Fiendfyre and put every last gram of strength he had into it. But as it was, the Death Eaters were now standing clear of him. "My Lord Voice." Darth Blackwood called out, his fingers pressed against one of his ears for some reason. "Report from the surface. The dementor's are acting strange."

Voldemort blinked, causing his eyes to glow again before he looked up towards the ceiling. **"So Nox has come. Faster than I expected her to."**

Hope swelled within Percy. If Madam Nox was on her way here…then she was bringing the Guardians with her. He might just have a chance. Provided he didn't bleed out first. "Nox?" The red-skinned devil asked, staring at the Dark Lord.

 **"Yes. Nox."** The strange voice said. **"I do not know how or why she has come to be here. A mystery to be solved another time. But as it stands, she is our enemy Azcarin."**

A wicked grin spread across Azcarin's face. "Then she will die."

Voldemort closed his eyes, and when they reopened they were back to their normal red. "Yess sshe will." Voldemort nodded before his eyes fell on Dolores. "Take the Minister and leave here."

The Undersecretary bowed deeply. "Yes my Lord. Come Minister, we have a press conference to prepare for."

Once the two were out of sight, the Dark Lord turned towards him. "It won't be long until they breach the wall of dementorss. And in keeping with good mannerss…I think we sshould sset up a proper greeting for them. Don't you Percy? Bring him topside."

Whatever hope that'd been brewing within him was crushed as the two Death Eaters grabbed him by either arm and began dragging him out of the chamber.

* * *

Going over his instruments again, Cedric was doing everything he could to try and calm his racing heart as he watched their position on the map slowly inch towards the island that housed the most famous prison in the wizarding world. 'Come on Cedric, get it together.' He willed at himself. 'Hell, Susan's already been through two battles! One in space and one against an entire vampire coven! This is nothing. Bloody hell, I'm not even flying! I'm just support!'

 **"Two minutes until visual confirmation of Azkaban. Nighthawk squadron and Blade squadron form up and get ready for our attack run."**

Forcing himself to be steady, Cedric stared out the window in front of him. **"Visual range in thirty sec– what the fuck is that!"**

There wasn't any need for the leader of the Nighthawks to clarify his question. They could all see it. A black half sphere of wind was circling around where the island housing Azkaban should've been located. _'No_.' Cedric thought, staring hard at the tornado. _'It's not a cloud…its dementors!'_

"Everyone, break off!" Cedric yelled into his comm. "It isn't a shield! It's dementors!"

 **"Fuck! Nighthawks break right, Blades break left!"**

Viktor banked their fighter hard to the left as Cedric felt himself being pushed slightly against his seat. **"Good fucking lord…"** Blade three breathed over the com. **"I've never seen so many at once. There must be hundreds…thousands of them. What the fuck are they all doing here?"**

 **"Well, seeing as how they're not coming after us they're more than likely just protecting the island."** Nighthawk two said back.

 **"It doesn't matter what they're doing."** Nighthawk one announced. **"We have a job to do. Form back up. We'll fire from range and see if we can't punch a hole through them."**

 _'It's not going to work.'_ Cedric thought as Viktor brought them back around and in line with the rest of the members of the Blades and Nighthawks. 'Only the Patronus Charm works against them.'

 **"Lock on target…fire missiles!"**

Eight missiles streaked through the sky closing the distance between the fighters and the wall of dementors with speed that was actually staggering to watch. Each missile impacted the dementor barricade, exploding and setting dozens of the dark creatures aflame **. "Any damage?"**

"Negative." Cedric winced as he responded. The dementors had already begun reforming their defensive wall well before the first of the flaming creatures fell from the sky. "Normal weapons won't work against them commander. Only the Patronus charm can scatter them."

 **"Damn it. Everyone pull back and enter a holding pattern a kilometer away from the island. We need to contact Grand Master Nox for further instructions."**

* * *

 **"Nighthawk one to Master Nox."**

Bringing her hand up to her ear, Nox activated her commlink. "This is Nox."

 **"Ma'am we've reached the island but…we've run into a slight problem."**

Sharing a look with Tonks and Harry, Nox looked forward in the direction where she knew Azkaban to be. "Define 'a problem' Nighthawk one."

 **"Dementors ma'am. Thousands of them. The entire island is encircled by the bloody creatures. We tried blasting through 'em, but whatever dementors we managed to put out of commission were replaced immediately. We could spend all of our ordnances on them…but I doubt we'd be able to make a hole for the LAATs to proceed to an LZ."**

"Shit." Nox muttered, lowering her hand from her commlink.

"Mother?"

Turning her head slightly, she spied her son standing just behind her. "They're using dementors to shield us away from the island." She said, answering his unasked question before activating her commlink again to the other four LAATs. "This is Master Nox. They're using dementors to create a living shield around the island. Anyone who can cast a corporeal patronus stand at the ready. Once we're within visual range of the island we'll slow down enough to lower the ramp and we'll throw as many patronus charms at them as we can. And once we're on the island keep an eye on the sky. The charms will scatter them, but not for long."

Less than five minutes later, the LAATs slowed and turned so that the ramp could be lowered. "Well," Tonks breathed, staring at the dome of dementors less than a kilometer in front of them. "That is certainly something that I never thought, nor wanted to see."

"And hopefully we won't again." Nox replied as she held up her wand, followed almost immediately by every other witch, wizard and Guardian in the LAAT. "On three. One. Two. Three. _Expecto Patronum!"_

A dozen silvery animals leapt out of the five LAATs and began gliding towards the dome of dementors. "Pilot, get a move on!" Nox shouted as the LAAT turned back around to follow after the corporeal Patronus.

"Yes ma'am!"

* * *

Standing on top of a pile of rubble in one of the more intact towers, Azcarin, the Emperors Wrath, stared up at the sight of the circling dark side entities with a smile. _'Such amazing creatures my Emperor created. Nothing but darkness…beautiful.'_

But as he watched, some of the creatures began to panic. And then a bright light, brighter than any star, exploded outwards from just beyond the line of creatures forcing Azcarin, and everyone else, to cover their eyes as all around them the dark side entities screeched in alarm.

When the light cleared enough, he lowered his hand and watched as the horde of the flying dark side entities scattered from whatever light based attack struck them. _'They're not dead._ ' He thought, watching the creatures fly away allowing five transports and their eight fighter escorts to approach the island. _'But it seems that these backwards Force sensitives have finally found a way to scatter my Master's creations.'_

One of the soldiers the Emperor's new Voice had brought along with him fired off a rocket of some sort towards the approaching ship. _'Foolish._ ' Azcarin thought, shaking his head as the rocket exploded in mid-air well before it even got close to the approaching ships. _'Such weapons are useless against someone of Nox's character…which is going to make this all the more enjoyable.'_

Just as he was pulling back, he felt something else as well. There were two presences on the transport that were remarkably similar to their prisoner. _'Well well…time to get the party started then.'_

Turning around, Azcarin stalked through the line of defenders on the island until he came to his target. The girl's dagger had sunk deep and the boy was bleeding out all over himself and the immediate area around him. "Stand up." He growled, grabbing the boy by his shoulder and forcing him onto his feet before marching him forward until he was standing out in the open, in clear view of the oncoming ships. "You see that transport." Azcarin asked, pointing towards the nearest shuttle. "I can sense someone…or rather two individuals that share a remarkably similar presence to yourself on board. You're siblings perhaps?"

He could feel the slight swell of hope within the boy as he stared up at the approaching transports. _'Good_.' "I wonder what they're thinking right now. You, standing amongst a horde of their enemies. I can almost taste their confusion." The boy sniffed loudly as his body began to shake. "Don't worry…I won't let them wonder for long."

A snap-hiss echoed throughout the area as Azcarin activated his lightsaber, which was pressed tightly against the boy's back. The boy gasped and his body twitched as the red blade pierced through his back and came out his chest. "Don't worry boy." Azcarin smiled, as he felt a sudden surge of rage and fury emanate from the closest shuttle. "I'll be reuniting you with the rest of your pathetic family soon enough."

Releasing the body, Azcarin watched as the boy toppled forward and fell off of the edge of the tower onto the rocks below. _'Come_.' He thought, staring up at the shuttles. _'I've been waiting three-millennia for this moment. I just hope that they don't disappoint.'_

* * *

Once the line of dementors vanished, the LAATs sped towards the island. They'd no sooner passed by the line where the dementors had been when several warning lights began flashing from the pilots controls. "Shit! Incoming AA rocket! Brace yourselves!"

Nox though, simply raised her hand and narrowed her eyes. The missile, which had been heading straight for their LAAT, exploded while it was still well clear of them. "Keep on course pilot." Nox yelled, her eyes scanning for more rockets. "It seems like Voldemort had decided to diversify his foot soldiers. Surprising considering his attitude. Vitiates doing more than likely."

As they got closer, Harry could start making out figures running around throughout the ruins of Azkaban. And more than slight disturbance in the Force brought his eyes up to one of the more intact watchtowers. "Who–what is that?"

Nox followed his line of sight, her lips curling in disgust. "Azcarin…I'd recognize his presence even halfway across the galaxy."

Narrowing his eyes, Harry stared at the man in front of Azcarin. "But…who's that in front of him?"

"That's…Percy." Ginny breathed.

"Impossible." Bill snapped, rounding on his sister. "Percy is-"

"That's Percy Bill!" Ginny snapped back. "I can sense him only…oh no. He's hurt and…no!"

Harry whipped around just in time to see the blade of a bright red lightsaber erupt out of the center of Percy's chest. "No…" Bill breathed, watching as the Emperor's Wrath withdrew his blade, letting Percy's body fall forward and over the ledge of the broken tower. "No!"

"William!" Nox shouted, spinning around and reaching out for the eldest Weasley. But it was too late. As Bill had already disappeared in a crack of apparation, with Fleur disappearing only a split second after him.

"Fuck!" Nox cursed. "Pilot! Get us on the ground now!"

* * *

Bill didn't hear, nor did he care, as Madam Nox called out for him. All of his attention was on his brother's body falling down towards the rocks beneath the tower. Apparating out of the LAAT, Bill landed right next to his brother's prone form sprawled out across the jagged rocks of Azkaban. "No…" He breathed, taking a step forward and dropping to his knees.

Percy…the one who was always the butt of the twins' jokes. The one who made sure to follow every rule put before him. The one who wanted to do right by the world more than any of them. Dead. It felt like the world had suddenly crashed in around him. 'I failed." He didn't protect his family. He knew this was war. And that in war people died. But the meaning hadn't sunk in until just that moment when he saw his own brother be killed while he was helpless to stop it.

Hearing a slight shuffle off to his left, Bill arched his wand upwards, firing off a cutting curse and decapitating the soldier from Voldemort's side that'd been trying to sneak up on him.

Glaring up at the top of the tower, Bill felt an all-consuming rage settle over him the likes of which he'd never felt before. With another twist he apparated to the top of the tower. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he felt a ward snap into place around him. _'Anti-apparation wards_.' Bill thought, recognizing the ward that'd gone up around him as he stared at the empty area in front of him.

"Hm…so you've come." A silky voice called out.

Raising his wand, Bill fired off the strongest blasting curse he knew at the ruined section of wall that the voice had come from. "Come out!" Bill shouted as the ruined wall was reduced to dust. "Stop hiding like a bloody coward!"

Heavy footfalls came from directly in front of Bill as the red faced devil that'd stolen his brother's life stepped out into the open. "Hiding? No…no. I wasn't hiding. I was merely seeing if you were even worth my time." The devil said as his head tilted towards the wall Bill had just destroyed. "And I'm glad you're not all talk. You have some measure of power to you. Truthfully I wanted your sister. I can tell even from this distance that she's been well trained in the Force. But you will do for a nice warm up after my three-millennium hibernation."

Drawing out a long lightsaber hilt, the red-faced devil activated it producing a bright red blade that he pointed at Bill. "Just promise me, boy, that you'll live long enough for me to shake the rust off. It would be a shame if you failed to provide a challenge and I was forced to go after that…hmm…that blond girl that's not quite human. I'm sure she'd be fun to break."

Snapping his wand vertically, a whip of green light cut through the ground separating the two of them. The red-skinned man quickly side-stepped as the green light passed him by, cutting the wall behind him clean in half. "You won't fucking touch her." Bill growled, angrier than he could ever remember himself being before. _'I won't allow this fucker to harm another member of my family!'_

Instead of being alarmed, the red-skinned man merely smiled. "Good…keep that anger going boy. And you might just make this somewhat interesting for me."

Keeping his hold on his wand light, Bill took a few slow sideways steps, each of which were matched by his opponent. _'I need to keep him at range._ ' Bill thought. While he didn't claim to be an expert by any stretch of the imagination, he'd spent every moment he could spare watching his sister and the Guardians train. 'Keep him at range and use area effect spells only. Direct-energy based spells can and will be reflected back at me.'

Twisting his wand, Bill let off a series of small blasting curses, each one designed to explode on impact to avoid any chance of them being sent back at him. The devil didn't bother trying to deflect the curses, preferring instead to constantly dodge, moving to and fro and making it next to impossible for Bill to get a bead on him. _'Damn it…he's fast! Okay…next plan.'_

Maintaining his barrage to keep the man on the move, Bill halted his spell casting just briefly to point his wand at the ground and transfigured a section of the floor into quicksand. Returning to his barrage, Bill started leading the man towards the small area with his spells. _'Just a few. More. Steps.'_

Just as the red-skinned devil was about to step foot onto the patch of ground he'd transfigured, he took to the air and leapt over the small area. "Not bad boy." The devil smirked as he landed right next to Bill's trap before kicking a stone over into the area he'd transfigured so that it would sink into the ground, ending his spell. "But not nearly good enough. Now it's my turn."

Bill barely had time to get a shield up as the man thrusted his hand towards him. Not that the shield did much good as it shattered like glass under the invisible force. The impact of which sent Bill flying back and crashing into part of the wall that was still intact. Righting himself, he had just enough time for his eyes to widen before he was forced to duck and roll away from the wall. The red lightsaber slicing clean through where his head had been just a moment before. _'How is he moving so fast?'_

Rolling onto his feet, he tried to put some distance between the two of them, but the red-devil was relentless, not allowing Bill any chance to put distance between them as he relentlessly thrusted and slashed at him. _'Shite! I can't keep up with him! I need to get some space between us or this fight will be over!'_

But no matter what he did, the devil just would not relent, even when Bill cast a blasting curse at their feet, he merely leapt up and towards Bill instead of away from him. "You're not too bad boy." The devil smirked. "A decent warmup. But now's it time to end this. I've more impressive people waiting to die than y-"

His words ended abruptly as he leapt away from Bill as a ball of fire zipped just inches in front of Bill's face, close enough that he could actually feel the heat of the fire as it passed him by. "Damn…I missed."

Bill felt his heart soar and then plummeted at the smooth voice that filtered through the air. "Fleur."

Hopping down off of the pile of rubble that she'd been standing upon, Bill gulped as he saw his French girlfriend more clearly. He knew that she'd been working with Master Fay and Master Yoda to better access her inner Veela, so to speak. But he had not been expecting this. Her face had taken on a slightly sharper, more angular appearance. Blond feathers were intermingled within the golden locks upon her head. Her fingers were slightly elongated and her nails had become more like talons. ' _Oh shite…she's pissed.'_

"Don't say a word William." Fleur hissed as she stood beside him. "There'll be time for us to talk after this battle is over. And Master Nox will want to have a word with you as well when this is over."

 _'Oh wonderful…she's pissed. As is Madam Nox…shite. Hope I've got my will filled out correctly. Oh who am I kidding? I work with goblins. They've probably had one filled out on me the moment I walked through their doors.'_

"Hehe…not bad…whatever you are." The devil chuckled as he tilted his head back and forth, cracking his neck loudly. "You almost got me with that one. But now…hmm…two on one. That certainly makes this more interesting at least."

"Use your fire to keep him away from us Fleur." Bill said, his mind racing as he tried to come up with a plan. "I've got an idea. Surround him and keep him in place for a second and we'll have him."

"As you say William." Fleur nodded, a pair of fireballs forming in both of her hands. "But whatever you're going to do…make it fast. I'm still not used to all of this."

Pulling back both arms, Fleur hurled both fireballs at the devil. The devil held up his hand, possibly to catch them, but Fleur didn't give him a chance. Twisting her hands, the fire responded to her command, fusing together before spreading out and surrounding the devil in a vortex of flame. Reversing his grip so his wand was traveling down the length of his forearm, Bill pointed his hand towards a pile of rocks. " _Petram opprimedndi pugno."_

The rocks quickly formed together, creating a one-ton replica of his fist and forearm. Arching his fist over his head, the rocks followed his movements, raising high up into the sky before the fist crashed down on top of the vortex of flames, sending out a shockwave of dust and fire.

As the flames died out and the dust began to settle, Bill removed his arm from in front of his eyes. There was no sign of the devil. Smiling, Bill turned to Fleur, who'd already started to shift back into her normal form. "Well…that wasn't too-"

His words drifted off as the stone fist he'd created shattered. Pieces that were left drifted upwards into the air as if someone was using a levitation spell on them. Bill and Fleur were both left standing shell shocked as they watched the red-skinned demon calmly rise to his feet, his hand held upwards as he wandlessly lifted the rocks off of him before throwing them off to the side as if they were nothing more than a nuisance.

 _'Good-fucking-Merlin…his clothes aren't even scorched! What the fuck? How much has Madam Nox been holding back on us?!'_

"Not bad you two." The demon said, rolling his shoulders and neck. "That was an impressive display. And you actually did make me go all out there for a second to prevent myself from being fried and crushed. But now…now playtime is over. And it's time for you two to die."

Bill couldn't explain what happened next. The devil didn't flinch and there was no sound. But he simply disappeared from where he'd been standing a good twenty or so meters in front of them, only to reappear within striking distance of Fleur. There was no thought to Bill's next action. He simply reacted.

Apparating through the space, Bill rammed his shoulder into Fleur's side just as the devil's blade was making its way around. Searing hot pain ripped through his chest as the blade's tip sliced through his stomach and chest. As soon as the blade left him, he felt an invisible force hitting him in the middle, sending him flying back into Fleur, the very woman he'd been trying to protect, and throwing them both back until Fleur hit a wall and Bill hit her.

Falling to the ground, Bill gasped in agony as his chest burned. "Fleur…" He coughed, craning his neck to look back at his Veela.

Her eyes were closed. And a small trickle of blood was running from the corner of her lips. "No…" He breathed, or willed as he struggled against the pain he was feeling so he could reach a hand out to her.

Pressing his fingers to her pale smooth neck, he nearly cried out in relief as he felt a slow erratic pulse beat beneath his fingers. "Ah…love. So pathetic."

Gasping in pain, Bill tried to sit up to protect Fleur, but a heavy boot collided with his back, forcing him back down to the ground and making him cry out as the wound on his chest impacted the ground hard. He started to try and shake the foot off of him, but the glowing red tip of the devil's lightsaber appearing right in front of his face halted him in his tracks.

"You missed your chance boy." The devil said. "Had you simply let me kill the woman, then you would've had a clear shot at me. But instead, you allowed love to make you weak and threw yourself at her to try and save her. But all that you succeeded in doing was ensuring that the both of you would die."

 _'Damn it.'_ Bill hissed, his head turning towards Fleur, whose eyes were still closed. _'Not like this…it can't end like this!'_

"But I'll tell you what." The red-devil continued on, despite Bill's struggles. "You two have amused me and given me a decent warm up. So for that…I'll kill you two quickly instead of dragging your deaths out like I usually do."

 _'This is it_.' Bill thought as the red blade was drawn back. _'I'm about to die…Mom. Dad. Ginny. Fred. George. Ron. Charlie…Fleur…I'm sorry. I failed you all.'_

A snap-hiss and what sounded like lightning bolts striking against one another came from directly above his head. A black-purple blade was being held across his head, stopping the red blade from reaching him. "Harry…"

The black-purple blade spun the red blade aside as the red-devil jumped away from them. "Bill!"

Bill's heart clenched as he recognized the voice. "Ginny."

Sure enough, the face of his sister appeared right in front of him. "Bill…oh Merlin…Bill. Why did you do something so stupid!?"

"Questions later Ginny." The strong voice of Harry called out. "Right now he needs attention. Hermione, Ginny. Get the two of them to the forward station point for treatment and then come back."

"Right." Ginny nodded before grabbing a hold of Bill's arm.

The sensation of apparation was unpleasant to begin with. Couple that with a wound going from his hip to his shoulder, and that brief second felt like a century of pure agony. "Stay here Bill." Ginny's voice called out to him from his pain induced fog. "Medics are seeing to Fleur and they'll be getting to you soon. I got to go."

Before she could leave, Bill lashed out and grabbed a hold of her arm. "Ginny." He coughed, making sure her eyes were on his as the fog began to clear from his eyes. "Don't…underestimate him. He's…a monster."

Ginny licked her lips, but nodded her head. "Don't worry Bill. We got this. Hermione! Let's go. The others need us."

* * *

Standing with Susan and Ahsoka by his side, Harry stared at the Sith standing before him. 'Good Merlin…I can practically feel the hatred rolling off of him! He's so…entrenched in the dark side. I've never felt anything like this before!'

The Sith, for his part, merely tilted his head and stared at Harry as if he were some sort of object to be studied. "Tell me boy, what is your relation to Darth Nox? I can practically smell her on you."

Harry stiffened by held his ground. "Ziri Nox is my mother. She raised me since I was a child after my parents were murdered by the Dark Lord you serve. She's taught me in the ways of the Force since before I could even walk."

The Sith, Azcarin, merely smiled. "Good. Then you might actually prove to be something of a challenge compared to that last boy. But still, even three on one…you won't stand a chance."

At this, it was Harry's turn to nod. "I admit…you're more skilled than I. Hell, probably the only person here that is your equal is one of the Masters or my mother. But…no one ever said that we were going to fight fair. And it's not three on one by the way."

At that moment, four cracks of apparation echoed around the ruined tower top as Ginny, Hermione, Daphne and Luna all appeared surrounding the Sith with their lightsabers in hand. If Azcarin was concerned about being so heavily outnumbered however, he didn't show it at all.

"Seven on one." He actually smiled as he reached behind him and pulled out a second lightsaber, or rather a saber staff. "Well then…this has certainly become interesting. Please…don't disappoint me."

* * *

Deflecting a few blaster bolts away from his person, Obi-Wan reflexively spun and cut down the non-magical soldier that'd charged at him with a combat knife. The battle to this point had been…brutal. Equal to anything he'd faced in the Clone Wars. Thanks to the Voldemort's reinforcements in both his magical and non-magical numbers, their own forces were outnumbered at least three-to-one if not more.

The only reason they'd been able to even gain a foothold into the island, let alone advance through it, was because of their air superiority. Their fighters and bombers had allowed them to carve out a piece of the island and had also forced the enemy forces to fall back into the ruins of the prison. And within those narrow corridors, their superior numbers meant little.

Hearing another battle cry, Obi-Wan turned and readied himself to face another charging non-Force Sensitive, only to frown as he felt a warning slam home from the Force. He couldn't let this one get close to him. Holding out his hand, Obi-Wan pushed the charging man away with a wave of the Force. As soon as he did the man…exploded in a manner greater than any grenade Obi-Wan had ever seen. If he'd been anywhere close to him when he'd gone off…

"Hehehe…well done."

Wheeling around, Obi-Wan found himself staring at a withered old man sitting atop one of the ruined walls. But even though he looked feeble, Kenobi could tell that he was anything but. This man was remarkably powerful in the Force. But more than that…the man's presence, even though it was brief. Obi-Wan felt it within the man that exploded.

"I must say…how did you know that he was going to explode like that? Is that this Jedi precognitive ability that the Emperor told us about? If so…it's impressive."

Narrowing his eyes, Obi-Wan kept his lightsaber at the ready, his eyes constantly moving about searching for a threat. "You were the one that did that to that man. You used to the Force to turn him into a…walking bomb."

The old man shrugged. "And what of it?" He asked before hopping off of his perch and landing gracefully despite his decrepit appearance. "Oh, I see. Hehe. You're one of those 'moral' people. Tell me Jedi. How many people have you killed?"

Obi-Wan blinked at the question. "I don't keep count."

The old man tilted his head. "No? That's a shame. The stench of death is all around you Jedi. I'm sure you've managed to kill quite a few. For myself, I've killed 1,372. Well, 73 now."

"And what's your point?"

The smile never left the old man's face. "My point is Jedi, you and I are both monsters. I'm just more open about it than you. I embrace what I am. While you run away screaming in denial. Your kind rather amuses me."

"You and I are nothing alike. I would never use the Force to turn one of my own men into a walking bomb."Obi-Wan ground out, pointing his lightsaber at the man.

The old man tilted his head and chuckled. "Tell me Jedi…That man that just charged at you…you would've killed him no? So what is more monstrous I wonder? Sending one men of your men to a needless slaughter, where you know that they're going to die. But give them a chance to take out their enemy with their deaths? Which is more monstrous I wonder?"

"I am not here to debate with you." Obi-Wan breathed, slipping into a calm state and not allowing the words to bother him.

"Hmm…I guess not." The old man sighed, snapping his fingers and creating a staff as tall as he to appear in his hands. "Tell me Jedi…what is your name? I want to remember the name of the first Jedi I killed."

"My name is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi." Obi-Wan said, holding his lightsaber up in front of his face in a salute. "And I am no longer a Jedi…I am a Guardian."

The old man smiled. "I am Darth Mortis, Dark Council member of the Sith Eternal Empire. And whether you are a Guardian or Jedi, it makes no difference. You stand against the Emperor and myself. Therefore you are my enemy. And I will kill you."

Obi-Wan nearly blinked at the words. It was less than a year ago that he heard almost the exact same phrase spoken from a man that he considered his brother. "Only a Sith deals in absolutes…and I will do as I must and remove your stain from the galaxy."

The "Sith Lord" smiled. "You will fail Jedi."

* * *

Conjuring up a quick shield, Sirius Black quickly apparated away from the spot he'd been standing before the shield could collapse under the strain of the incoming spell. "Itty bitty Siri! Why are you running away? Your cousin Bella wants to play!"

"Merlin Bella." Sirius growled out loud. "You were bat shite crazy before you were sent to this hell hole…but now you've completely gone off the deep end."

Rolling out from his cover, he sent a barrage of spells at his cousin, each of them aiming for different parts of her body. She managed to counter almost all of them save for the last, which forced her to apparate away to avoid getting clipped. "Not bad Siri!" Bellatrix laughed. "You've gotten better over the years."

"Can't say the same about you Bella." Sirius yelled back. "You've gotten sluggish in your old age."

"Ha! Very funny Siri! I dare you to come out and say that to my face mutt!"

Breathing deeply, Sirius held his wand up against his face. "Damn it all Bella…why are you doing this!? Why are you still following the fraud of a Dark Wanker?! Andromeda never stood with him! Regulus turned against him and did more to defeat him than I can admit! For fuck's sake, Narcissa was tortured multiple times by his lackeys and nearly beaten to death! Your whole family, the people who grew up with you and loved you are against him! Why are you still with him?"

Silence greeted his question. "Even if I told you why Sirius." Bella answered after a long pause, her voice suddenly clearer than he could ever remember. "I doubt that you would understand. I am right where I need to be."

"Damn it all Bella!" Sirius screamed, rounding the corner and trading a series of spells with his lost cousin before both of them ducked back behind cover. "Your whole family is against him! Will you truly stand against your family?"

"You really don't understand Sirius." Bella said, her voice once again devoid of almost all emotion. "Everything that I'm doing is to preserve our family."

"Damn it." Sirius growled, tightening his grip on his wand. "Fine then. If you won't see reason then I'll make you see it!"

* * *

Falling in step with her Master, Maris Brood struck low while her Master went high in hopes of catching their opponent off guard. But their attacks were for naught as their opponent created a barrier that slowed their strikes down just enough so that he could backstep and counter with an exploding spell aimed at the ground at their feet, making both Maris and her Master jump back and away from their opponent.

"I must say, you two Jedi are far better opponents than I'd hoped."

Taking a deep breath, Maris tightened her grip on her tonfa-like-shoto lightsabers before settling into a basic Ataru stance ready to go again; while beside her Master Ti held her lightsaber in a classic Makashi stance. Their opponent, who identified himself as Darth Blackwood, brought one of the two wands he was holding up and scratched behind his ear. "And I must say…for a pair of aliens you two are fairly attractive. Why don't we stop this here and now and you two can live the rest of your lives as my pets? It certainly beats dying. Or worse if the Emperor has his way."

"We are not pets." Master Ti stated firmly.

Blackwood merely shrugged. "Hm. Fine. Your funeral then."

The man was fighting in a manner than Maris had never seen before. And given how much space Master Ti was giving him, she hadn't seen much of it either. If any at all. The man was using both of his wands, but only the wand in his left hand to cast spells. The wand in his right hand he was using to create some sort of energy sword that was reminiscent of a lightsaber, and appeared to act like one as well. If she were to compare his fighting style to anyone's…it would be Grand Master Nox with the way he fluidly alternated back and forth between melee combat and magic techniques.

"Let me tell you both something." Blackwood said, rolling his shoulders. "After the Voice revealed himself, the Emperor touched all of our minds to better prepare us for you Jedi. Both Nightshade and Mortis asked for a piece of his arcane knowledge. But I, I asked for knowledge of battle. And he gave me a lot."

Sidling his right foot forward, the Sith, if he can be called SIth, created his black blade of energy against, this time turning both wands into blades. "And I can tell just from our brief exchange that you, Red, use Makashi and are incredibly skilled with it. But you hold yourself back to give yourself a chance to use the Force. And you Horns, you use Ataru. But your form…is incredibly undeveloped. Sloppy. If you two continue against me…you will both die."

The man moved faster than Maris's eyes could follow. Apparation more than likely. It was only because of her training in the Force that she was able to bring her lightsaber over her shoulder in time to block the attack that'd been aimed at her back. Trusting her instincts, Maris ducked her head just as Master Ti's lightsaber came around above her and connected with the second blade that'd been coming at her.

"For all of your bravado, you're merely a coward." Master Ti said calmly as she pushed Blackwood back, giving Maris the time she needed to spin around and take up her stance at her Master's side.

Blackwood clearly wasn't expecting that as his face started to turn red. "A coward you say?"

"Yes. A coward." Master Ti reiterated. "Two opponents stand before you. But all of your offensive attacks have been directed at my Apprentice. Even your spells have been directed at her. The only time you've engaged me is when you need to defend yourself. You don't want to fight against the superior opponent. So you continuously assault the younger one. As I said. Coward."

Maris was more than a little miffed at the slight, but she was smart enough to know that compared to Master Ti, she was the weaker of the two. Blackwood merely laughed at her observations. "Coward? No…no, when being attacked two on one, you always go for the weaker opponent before focusing in on the stronger one. That isn't the trait of a coward. It's just plain sense Red. But…if that is how you wish to fight…then so be it."

In the blink of an eye the large man managed to cross the intervening space between himself and Master Ti, slashing across his body with his two conjured swords and forcing her Master onto her back foot. _'Now's my chance.'_ Maris thought as she watch as Blackwoods attention remained solely on her Master.

Staying far away, she waited until she felt her Master had Blackwoods full and undivided attention before pouncing. While the two were deadlocked, she jumped in, her shoto's aiming for the man's head. 'I've got him!' She smiled as Blackwood, unable to break his lock with her Master, brought his arm back in foolish attempt to block her strike.

At least she thought it was foolish, until her lightsaber struck his arm and…nothing happened. ' _What the–oof!'_

She didn't have time to try and figure out what'd just happened as Blackwood broke off his lock with her Master long enough to deliver a swift kick to her midsection which sent her reeling across the ground and knocked all of the air out of her lungs. "Maris." Master Ti called out from above her. "Are you alright?"

"Yes." Maris coughed, sitting upright and spotting her Master standing over her with Blackwood standing a fair distance away from the two of them.

Blackwood wasn't even paying attention to the two of them though as he stared down at his arm. "Fucking bitch." He murmured, holding up his arm showing off the burned hole in his overcoat. "This was a two-thousand dollar coat! Although I guess the fault was mine. I didn't expect you to launch a sneak attack. Didn't peg you for one…without honor. Guess I'm just going to have to teach you two a lesson then."

Pulling his coat off, the large man stared down at himself for a moment before grabbing the front of his shirt and tearing it off in a single pull. Upon seeing his body underneath his shirt, Maris felt her jaw drop. The majority of his torso and arms were covered in…metal.

"Interesting, isn't it." Blackwood smirked, raising his arm as if he were examining it. "Titanium. Magical enhanced to be unbreakable and then surgically grafted onto my flesh. It can repel bullets. Even some spells. Although I wasn't sure if it could deflect your lightsabers, but I'm glad that that particular gamble paid off." Holding both of his wands out, Blackwood re-conjured his twin blades. "Well then ladies now that show and tell is over shall we continue?"

* * *

Batting away another rampaging opponent with the Force, Master Fay glared at her target. Ever since she'd entered this particular section of the ruins she'd noticed something about her enemies. They fought without thought. They simply charged in at her blinding. They were powerful to be sure. But they lacked any and all free will. A result of something that'd been done to their minds by the one before her.

Sighing, the woman set her pipe down and rose from her seat. "Well…you Jedi certainly do live up to your reputation that's for sure. Did you leave any survivors for me? I would hate to have to start over from scratch with a new batch of recruits."

Locking over her shoulder briefly, Fay stared at the numerous bodies littering the corridor behind her. "Those people…their minds were gone. That was your doing was it not?"

The woman merely shrugged. "And what of it?" As the woman step towards her, Fay angled herself waiting for the attack to come. "I'm sure that I don't have to tell you this, but the body can do amazing things. But the mind has this annoying tendency to stop it from doing so. And after quite a bit of trial and error, I found a way from stop the mind from blocking what the body can do. Allowing even a non-magical to perform feats they never even dreamed of."

"And in return they become your mindless drones." Fay countered, keeping her eyes on the woman before her while stretching out her senses to keep an eye on her surroundings.

"A fortunate side-effect." The woman smiled. "But I'm being rude. I should introduce myself. I am Darth Nightshade of the Eternal Empire's Dark Council. And you are?"

"I am Master Fay of the Guardian High Council." Master Fay answers back. "And as I told a young one some time ago…you are nothing more than a walking pile of bile and hatred given form. But unlike her…I see no chance of redemption within you."

The woman's eyes hardened. "Now that wasn't very nice. And here I was thinking that we could one day become friends. Ah well. No matter. I'm curious about you…you're clearly not human but you're powerful all the same. I don't think that I'm going to kill you…despite you insulting me. No. I think a permanent place as one of my faithful servants will be best."

Fay had next to no warning as a twin set of fireballs shot out from both of the woman's hands. If not for her abilities with the Force, there was no doubt in her mind that she would've been incinerated. But as it was, Fay simply turned sideways more and allowed the twin balls of fire to pass harmlessly by her. "I truly hope that that wasn't the best you can do."

Nightshade's smile only grew. "Oh…you and I are going to have some fun now."

* * *

Moving through the ruined halls of the stone fortress, Master Aayla Secura slowed her pace as she felt something...strange. Pivoting quickly, she brought her blue lightsaber up just in time to deflect a dark yellow spell away from her person before sliding back as a large club slammed down into the floor right where she'd been standing. Bringing her wand up, Aayla threw her attacker back with a banishing charm…but to her utter surprise her attacker merely shrugged off the attack as if it were nothing more than a stiff gust of wind.

"Grrrrr!"

Aayla felt her blood freeze momentarily as her attacker stepped out into the light and she was able to see who…or rather what it was. Her attacker was a human male, or at least what was left of one. All of the skin on his head was heavily scarred from burns. And instead of eyes he had…two metal spikes protruding slightly from his sockets. But it wasn't his appearance that caused her blood to go cold. No, that happened when she reached out for him with her empathy.

"Force." She muttered, keeping her guard up as the man stalked back in forth in front of her like a predator stalking its prey. "There is nothing within you save for agony and the need to follow a single directive. What happened to you?"

The creature didn't answer. Not that it even could as when it opened its mouth again to let out another roar she could see another spike within its mouth. _'Force_.' Aayla cursed, dodge to the side as the monster roared past her. ' _Who would do such a thing to another individual? Do the Sith truly have no respect for life?'_

The creature growled again and began wildly swinging its club at her while throwing spells whenever it could. Aayla stayed on the defensive, knocking aside the spells and redirecting the wild swings as they came. 'There's no finesse in his attacks. He's merely a pile of brute strength focused in on a single objective. He almost reminds me of the reports I read on Dooku's second Apprentice. Savage Opress.'

Soon enough, the beast overextended itself and Aayla brought her lightsaber up through his arm, severing the limb that was holding onto the club. But instead of backing off like she thought, the beast didn't even seem to acknowledge the wound as it merely shifted its focus to attack with its wand. _'Does he not even register pain anymore?'_ Aayla wondered as she deflected spell after spell. _'He…it's just the simple fact that he's in constant agony. Because of that, he doesn't even register any new wounds inflicted upon him.'_

Twisting on her foot, Aayla apparated the short distance so that she was behind the beast. Spinning low, Aayla ran her lightsaber across the back of his legs before leaping over his head and removing his remaining arm. Landing on her feet, Aayla looked down at the creature with pity as it tried to crawl towards her, its hostile intent radiating off of it even though it was powerless to do anything against her. 'Even without his arms and with his legs disabled, he is still trying to attack me.'

Raising her lightsaber, she stood over the creature. "May you find peace in the Force." She muttered before slashing down and removing the creature's head from his shoulders, ending his suffering.

 _'Damn them._ ' Aayla cursed, feeling a surge of rage coursing through her at what this Sith Emperor and Dark Lord Voldemort had just made her do, and for what they'd done to this man. _'Damn them all.'_

* * *

 _'How is this possible_?' Harry cursed as he deflected yet another blow before backpedaling away to avoid Azcarin's follow up strike. Without a moment's hesitation, the Sith then flawlessly altered his body's movements so that he spun around in a half-circle to simultaneously block Susan's and Daphne's strikes before leaping over their heads and spinning in the air before landing behind them.

Harry and the others knew going in that this opponent would be unlike anything they'd faced…but this…this was something else completely! The man was duel wielding his lightsaber and saberstaff combination as if the two were nothing more than extensions of his arms. He transitioned flawlessly between Juyo, Ataru, Djem So and Makashi making his movements next too unpredictable as he held the seven of them back. Not even magic was of use to them, as each spell that was cast at the Sith was either deflected aside or countered swiftly with the Force.

Following Azcarin's movements, Harry jumped over Daphne and Susan before landing with an overhead strike that the Sith was forced to block. As the two stood in a lock, Daphne and Susan circled around from either side of Harry and slashed at their opponent, but again Azcarin defied all logic as he kept his high guard with his lightsaber while bringing his saberstaff into a cross guard, catching both of the girls' strikes.

Harry kept the pressure on him, as did Susan and Daphne trying to keep the Sith in a deadlock with them. As they did, Ahsoka and Ginny made their way up behind him, their blades poised and ready to strike. Only he wasn't there. He disappeared with barely even the slightest hint of an apparation crack just before Ahsoka's and Ginny's blades could reach him.

"Hmm…for someone who has been trained by Nox his entire life…I'm actually quite disappointed. Although then again…she never was the best swordswoman in the order. Smart and powerful yes. And her cunning was next to legendary. But her skills with a lightsaber were not what won her a seat on the Dark Council that's for sure."

Hearing his mother being insulted in such a manner lit a fire within Harry as he charged at the Sith. "Hmm, touched a nerve did I?" Azcarin taunted him as Harry rained down blow after blow against him. "But I believe that this game is at an end. So many Jedi to kill, so little time. And I've wasted enough with the likes of weaklings like yourselves."

Harry felt his rage rising at the casual way in which Azcarin was dismissing Harry and his Valkyries. _'We are not weaklings! We'll show him just what we can-'_

Harry had no idea how it happened. One moment he was locking blades with Azcarin and the next…the next Harry's lightsaber fell from his limp fingers as a swift cut to his forearm severed the tendons in his hand. His leg then gave out as another slash caught him on the hamstrings, bringing him down. Then a searing pain raced across his back from hip to shoulder as his enemies lightsaber cut through his armor with ease. _'How_ …?' Was the only thing he could think as he dropped face first down onto the ground, his head turned in a manner that allowed him to see the shocked expressions on his friend's faces.

"You are weak." Azcarin growled, as Luna and Susan charged at him.

Azcarin ducked under Susan's swipe, before countering by slashing her across the face with the tip of his lightsaber and delivering a hard kick to her lower back. Without pause, Azcarin grabbed the hilt of Luna's saberstaff and wrenched it away from her before punching her in the gut doubling her over and then kneeing her in the face, breaking her nose throwing her onto her back where she didn't move again.

"You lack the will to kill!"

Hermione threw several spells at him, but each were deflected as he charged at her. Hermione tried to make a break for it, but Azcarin caught her in a Force Choke, holding her off the ground for a second before throwing against one of the walls with enough force that several of her bones audibly broke. Ginny tried to reach for her, but she screamed as Azcarin let loose a bout of Force lightning, freezing Ginny in her steps as she cried out in agony as her body was pushed into the wall next to Hermione.

"You constantly deny what you are and what you could become!"

Daphne and Ahsoka charged the Sith as, Daphne aiming high while Ahsoka aimed low. Ahsoka caught a foot in her face for her troubles. And Daphne…Daphne merely blinked uncomprehendingly as she stared down at the stub of what used to her right arm before Azcarin backhanded her to the ground.

Ahsoka managed to right herself and brought her guard up, but Azcarin had already charged. His shoulder crashing into her middle as he carried her across the room before slamming her hard against one of the few still standing walls. Ahsoka gasped and tried to bring her lightsaber around, but Azcarin merely knocked it out of her hands and grabbed her by the throat. "And…you're too predictable."

"No!" Harry screamed, trying to move but helpless to do so as Azcarin brought his lightsaber around and stabbed Ahsoka in her gut all the way to the hilt of his lightsaber. _'No…no this can't be happening! This...this is just a bad dream! This can't be happening!'_

But no matter how much Harry willed and prayed, the image before him didn't change. Not even as Azcarin retracted his lightsaber and Ahsoka fell limply to the ground, her hands covering the hole in her middle. "It is Nox's fault boy." Harry vaguely heard Azcarin say as he stared at his still girlfriend. "I can sense the potential within you. But she's held you back. And do you know why?"

Azcarin's boots appeared in Harry's vision, cutting him off from seeing Ahsoka as the Sith knelt down in front of him. "It's because she became corrupted by the light. She knew your power…and she came to fear it just like all Jedi fear true power. Nox held you back. And because of that all of your friends and your lover are now going to die-"

"Shut up!" Harry screamed, throwing his one good arm towards the Sith. Surprisingly, the Sith's eyes widened just before he was blown back and over the ledge of the broken tower, disappearing from sight.

Staring at the now empty space, it took Ahsoka's low moan of agony to break Harry out of his stupor over what'd just happened. "Ahsoka." Harry cried, crawling as best he could across the space separating the two of them as his right arm and leg were both lame thanks to Azcarin.

Reaching her, Harry carefully turned her over. Her eyes were open, her breathing was erratic and her hands were pressed firmly against the wound in her middle. "Let me see." Harry said hoarsely.

When Ahsoka moved her hands ever so slightly, and Harry felt despair swell within him more intense than ever before. Looking around frantically, he found his lightsaber laying across the room near the downed Daphne. Harry felt bile rise in his throat as he looked at his childhood friend, sans an arm, but he swallowed that and summoned his lightsaber to him. ' _They're injured…but still alive.'_ He thought, opening the hidden compartment on his lightsaber and pulling out the small folded up pouch that he'd used to save Hermione's life back during their first year at Hogwarts.

Holding the pouch open in his shaking right hand, Harry dove his left up to his wrist into the bag searching the small vial. Closing his fingers around it, Harry pulled out the small vial of phoenix tears. "Hold on Ahsoka." Harry cried, as he awkwardly pulled the stopper out of the vial with one hand. "This will hurt…but it'll heal you."

Placing a few drops of the precious liquid on her wound, Harry's heart thundered in his chest as nothing happened. _'Come on…please…'_

Ahsoka's back suddenly arched as she gasped in pain. "It's okay." Harry cried, tears falling freely down his face as he tried to keep her still so that the tears could work. "I know it hurts but it'll stop soon an-" Harry's word's tailed off as he saw his breath in front of his face. 'No…not now! God damn it all not now!'

But again, if there was higher power in the universe it seemed fit to ignore Harry's pleas as when Harry looked up he saw no less than a dozen dementors slowly descending upon the broken tower. "No." Harry cried, closing his eyes. His friends were wounded and unconscious. And Ahsoka was still in midst of heal via phoenix tears. "No…just…go…away!"

* * *

Two dark red lightsaber blades locked with one another as Nox glared into the eyes of her opponent. **"Are you surprised to see me again Nox? I thought you would've learned by now that I am not killed so easily."**

Even though it was the face of Voldemort that she was staring into, the glowing purple eyes and deep voice left little question as to just who she was truly fighting against. As soon as the LAAT had landed she'd intended to go off after Azcarin immediately and retrieve Bill Weasley. But as soon as she stepped foot off the LAAT she felt the unmistakable presence of Vitiate and knew that of the two, Vitiate was by far the greater threat. Harry had disappeared soon after, but she'd paid that little mind. He was with the troopers. And she trusted her son to do what needed to be done.

"Perhaps I am little surprised to find you alive Vitiate." Nox growled. "Although then again I shouldn't be surprised. You're just like a cockroach or a rat. You always pop up are nothing more than a nuisance to be eliminated."

Vitiate stepped quickly and spun their blades around in a circle, forcing Nox to use the Force to propel herself backwards to avoid his followup slash. **"Now Nox…that hurts. I would've thought that after all this time you would've learned proper respect for your Emperor."**

"I told you back in Egypt Vitiate, when I destroyed most of your soul." Nox growled, holding her lightsaber level towards Vitiate. "I will never bow to anyone again. Least of all you."

Voldemort's, or rather Vitiate's, head tilted to the side as an almost amused expression came over his face. **"Really Nox? Not even to save the life of your son?"**

Nox hesitated at that, a fact which Vitiate unfortunately picked up on. " **Yes…stretch out your feelings Nox. Find where your son is now. A battlefield is such a dangerous place for a child. One never knows just who they will run into…or rather who they will seek out."**

Keeping her lightsaber and eyes trained on Vitiate, Nox reached out her senses. And nearly recoiled. Her son and Valkyries were…fighting against Azcarin. 'Idiot boy! He doesn't stand a chance against Azcarin! Numbers mean absolutely nothing against the likes of him! Fuck!'

 **"Yes. Your son and his little harem are currently fighting for their lives against my Wrath. Surely you of all people know just what that means."** Vitiate's smirk grew wider as he took a single step towards her and held out his hand. **"Kneel before me Nox. And I make sure that your son survives this. I will even allow you to keep everything that you've built. I will even let your Jedi acquaintances leave this world unmolested. You will be the Grand Overseer of the new Sith Temple as well as Leader of the Dark Council, second only to myself. And all you have to do…is kneel before me."**

Nox's arm faltered ever so slightly as she felt a spike of fear emanating from her son. Everything that she'd ever done since taking him in had been for him. She'd even lost sight of her ultimate goal to become Empress of Earth in raising him. Her world revolved around him. She…she couldn't just leave him to die.

"Nox!" A voice shouted in her mind. A voice she hadn't heard in a long time. A voice that reached deeper into Nox's soul than any other. _"Don't give in! Believe in your son! What would he want? Would he want you to sacrifice everything you've built, this entire world, just for a chance to save him?"_

It took all of Nox's will power and control not to let her surprise show on her face. 'You _should be one with the Force.'_

 _"Worry about that shit later Nox. Focus on the here and now. As you always told me to do so. Now kick. His. Ass."_

 **"Well Nox. What is your answer?"**

Returning her full attention to the Sith Emperor, Nox tightened her grip on her lightsaber. "My answer…is for you to kiss my ass. Then bend over so I can shove my lightsaber so far up your ass that you'll be able to taste the metal."

Vitiate's smile faltered as his lips tightened. **"How colorful. Are you truly so disillusioned as to think that you stand a chance against what is to come?"**

"You mean the dementors, which you created, storming the non-magical community before you activate your 'Children' and having them take over the world for you?" Nox asked cockily.

Vitiate didn't even bat an eye. " **I see the spy was able to reach you after all. No matter. My plans are already in motion. Plans that you have no hope of stopping."**

"We'll see about that Vitiate." Nox growled, crossing the space between them in a blink and renewing her assault against him.

Back and forth the two traded blows with both the Force and their lightsabers. But no matter what Nox threw at the Emperor, no matter what trick she tried to employ, the Voice of the Emperor merely stood in place, deflecting everything she had. **"It is hopeless Nox."** Vitiate stated, as Nox was forced to apparate a short distance to avoid a wave of Force lightning. **"You are your forces took too long battling myself and my new Sith Nox. Now your window for victory has officially closed."**

Feeling her skin prickle, Nox cast a quick glanced off to the horizon. Hundreds of small black shapes were slowly starting to drift back towards the island. _'Shit. We're too entrenched here. And I can't take my attention of Vitiate in order to cast the Patronus either. Fuck. Someone had better-'_

Nox nearly doubled over as she felt pain and utter terror rage through the bound she shared with her son. _'Harry_.' Nox nearly cursed, her eyes shooting over to the broken tower where she knew her son was now injured. _'Fuck…I need to get to him!_ '

 **"You should've taken my offer Nox."** Vitiate gloated, deactivating his lightsaber. **"Now your son will die. Your Order will die. Everything you've built and care about will destroyed. And after I have destroyed everything you hold dear, will I allow you to die."**

A thunderous boom echoed throughout the island. Nox was forced to bend ever so slightly, as was Vitiate, as the both of them suddenly felt as if something was pressing on their backs. _'This…this is the sheer weight of someone's power!'_ Nox thought, her eyes widening as she recognized just whose power it was. _'It's…Harry…what are you doing?! This level of exertion will kill you!'_

Eyes snapping up towards the tower, Nox's stomach dropped to her feet as a bright light emanated from the top of the building. A single entity of light shot out from where she knew her son to be and raced towards the steadily approaching dementors. The dark creatures screeched and immediately tried to flee, but the entity raced after them, colliding with as many black shapes as it could. And with each collision, the dementor simply ceased to exist.

 _'That's…Harry's Patronus!'_ Nox realized, as she watched the entity pass by close enough for her to get a glance at it. _'How…how did he do this? Is this…is this something that the Father gave him?'_

 **"Azcarin!"** Vitiate's voice boomed throughout the island. **"Kill the boy! Now!"**

Nox nearly apparated herself to the top of the broken tower, but stopped as she sensed something else. Her son would be in good hands.

* * *

Landing back atop the broken tower, Azcarin had to do a double take at what he found. Nox's son was kneeling next to the togruta holding onto her hand while his head thrown back as a vortex of Force energy whipped around the boy giving him a slight golden glow. And if that wasn't strange enough, the same vortex and glow was surrounding the togruta as well. _'Safer just to kill the both of them.'_ He thought, palming his lightsaber as he stepped forward.

Each step was harder than the last as the vortex to energy kept pushing against him. But the Emperor's orders were not to be denied. No matter how difficult they were. So he kept placing one foot in front of the other until he was standing right next to the duo. The boy's black and green eyes were now completely white and glowing slightly. And while the togruta had her eyes closed, there was no doubt in his mind that had the girl's eyes been open as well, they would be in a similar state.

"It's too bad boy." Azcarin grinned, activating his lightsaber and fighting against the suddenly intensified vortex. "You were interesting to say the lea- Ah!"

Just as he was about to strike, he felt something grab him from behind and yank him backwards, well away from his intended targets. By the time he finally managed to right himself, he couldn't believe what was before him. All of the kids he'd disabled were lying next to one another next to the boy and togruta. And a shield of pure energy had been erected around them. On the plus side, the vortex of energy that was preventing him from moving was gone. But the dementors were still being destroyed. And now he had some sort of barrier in his way. _'But who could've done this so fast?'_

"Allow you to harm the children further. I will not."

Turning to his right, he found a small green creature sitting idly atop a pile of rocks. In one hand he held a walking stick of sorts and in his other he held a lightsaber. _'A Jedi_.' Azcarin thought, turning towards the wretched creature. _'And not just any Jedi…this one is far more powerful than any other Jedi I've ever encountered save for Revan and possibly Satale Shan.'_

"Who are you little creature?" Azcarin growled, activating his lightsaber and one half of his saberstaff.

"Grand Master Yoda of the Jedi Order, I am." The little creature identified himself as he rose to his feet and activated his lightsaber.

"Grand Master huh?" Azcarin smirked. This would definitely be a challenge worthy of his skill. "I haven't killed one of you before. This will be fun."

"Your confidence, misplaced it is Wrath." The little creature said, hoping down off of the pile of rubble. "As is your confidence in your Emperor. And the dark side of the Force only."

* * *

"It looks like the tides have turned Vitiate." Nox gloated, turning her attention back fully to Vitiate as her son's Patronus continued to circle the island, destroying and scaring off the dementors. "My son is destroying your precious 'Invincible Army'. And a Jedi Grand Master is protecting him. It's over."

Vitiate looked up towards the tower, then to the sky where his dementors were slowly being decimated. **"This is not over yet Nox! All of you! To me! Now!"**

Nox jumped back as she felt a sudden surge in the Force. A split second later the ground beneath her feet erupted in a shower of dirt and stone. Throwing her arm over her eyes to shield them, she felt numerous Force signatures appearing from mid-air in front of her before a powerful Force barrier slammed home. As she lowered her arm, she found herself staring at large purple Force shield. And within was every member of Vitiate's army that was still standing.

 **"This is not over Nox."** Vitiate said, walking towards her, stopping just shy of the edge of the shield. **"You have won this day. If you can consider this a victory. But in the end it will not matter. Make what plans you will. Train who you will. Build what weapons you will. In the end…it will not matter. I have been waiting and planning this moment for three thousand years. And I am not about to be stopped by the likes of you."**

The sphere of light surged powerfully and then winked out of existence taking Vitiate and his entire army away. _'Okay_ …' Nox thought staring at the space where Vitiate had literally just teleported his entire army away from. _'I'm going to need to learn that one.'_

Turning on her heel, she faced the broken tower and after a quick burst of apparation found herself atop it. The sight that greeted her made her knees weak. The Valkyries were all lined up in a row, all of them bearing some sort of injury with Daphne being the worst off missing an arm. And her son…her son as lying on the ground next to Ahsoka.

Walking towards them, she slowly knelt down next to her son and began to gently probe him with the Force. ' _He's wounded…bad. And he's exhausted…but…what's this? He's…he's formed another bond. No…not formed. Strengthened. I doubt at this point one could even tell where Harry ended and Ahsoka began in the Force.'_

"Gravely injured they are," Yoda spoke, walking up beside her. Not that she was surprised by his presence. After all, he was the reason she stayed and fought against Vitiate despite her son's state. "What he did, saved us all he did. That technique, best hope for battling these creatures of the dark side, it is."

Nox was barely paying attention to the Grand Master as she began weaving gentle healing waves into her son and his Valkyries. It wouldn't be enough to heal them all, but it would stabilize them until they could get back to the Temple. "This is Grand Master Nox." Nox said, ceasing her menstrations and activating her commlink. "I need a medivac team to report to the top of the broken tower immediately. We have seven critically wounded that need emergency care immediately."

 **"Roger that Master Nox."** General Rex's voice answered her call. **"Medivac in bound to your location now. ETA, five minutes."**

Letting go of her commlink, Nox moved forward enough so that she could pick up her son's head and gently place it in her lap. "Hang on son." She whispered, running a hand through his hair. "All of you, hang on. Help is on the way."


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Here we are again, back with another chapter. For starters, this is another darker chapter as it is the start of the war that will span the globe. So…yeah it's gonna be a little brutal. However the next chapter will slow down a bit. Second, I was asked for an updated timeline and power rankings. I will get this out to everyone in the next chapter. Third, I want to remind everyone that this is book two of four that I have planned out. Once** **The Rise** **is done I will be writing** **The Unification War** **and** **The Return** **. However I might take a hiatus after the end of** **The Rise** **as I've been writing a lot and I want to work on my outline for** **The Unification War** **. That being said, the Rise still has a few chapters to go. Maybe more than a few.  
**

 **And lastly, a big thank you to HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon for the beta work!**

 **Chapter 20**

Kneeling down next to the bloodstained rocks, Quinlan Vos, Master within the Guardian Order, stared at the spot where the body of one Percy Weasley had been laid out. His presence here on the island had been a…oddity that Quinlan couldn't explain. Sure he'd heard that the boy was on the outs with his family after he turned his back on them. From the few words the eldest Weasley son had been able to spare him before being taken away from treatment, Percy would've died first before joining with the Dark Lord.

Feeling a familiar presence coming close to him, Quinlan didn't bother to turn around as he continued to start at the blood. "Quinlan." His lover and partner Asajj Ventress spoke, kneeling down next to him. "The cleanup is almost complete. Nox wants us to be ready to pull out within the hour."

Nodding, Quinlan reached down, his fingers halting just slightly before touching the blood. "And what of the one that my former Padawan killed?"

"Don't even get me started on that one." Asajj commented, shaking her head and actually shivering slightly. "Even amongst the Nightsisters…I've never seen something so…sinister as that. How he was even still alive, let alone able to fight as well as Secura reported he could...it makes me wonder what other secrets this Dark Lord is holding in reserve for us."

Turning his head, he gave his lover a half-smirk. "Regretting switching sides' luv?"

"No." Asajj answered quickly. "While I could never be a Jedi…this Guardian thing isn't too bad. Plus I have an adequate bed warmer in you…but I suppose if a better one comes along then I might just be tempted."

"Ouch. I don't know if my ego will be able to recover." Vos chuckled humorlessly as he clutched at his heart.

"Don't be a smart ass Vos, it doesn't suit you." Asajj smirked, rising to her feet. "Now come on. We don't want to miss the shuttle off of this rock."

"Yeah," Quinlan nodded, turning his attention back to the blood stain. "Just one sec."

Reaching down, Quinlan touched the edge of the dried blood on the ground. The moment he touched the blood he could see the boy's last moments. Standing atop the ruined tower with the Sith standing behind him. He was wounded…a deep cut in his side that was bleeding heavily.

The vision ended and Quinlan stared up at the top of the broken tower. Without a word he apparated up to the top level and began searching the area for the spot the Sith had picked him up from.

"Quinlan?" Asajj questioned, apparating into existence next to him as he walked through the rubble. "What are you doing?"

"It doesn't make sense Asajj." Quinlan answered back, kneeling down next to the area where the last vision had ended. Looking carefully at the debris, he could make out a small pool of blood half-covered by a stone. "The kid's family is about as light sided as you can get. I'm trying to figure why he was brought here. If nothing else…I'm hoping to give some measure of closure to the kid's family."

 _ **"Master Vos, Ventress. Where are you two? We're ready to leave."**_

Activating his comm-link, Quinlan held his wrist up to his mouth. "Hold up Master Nox. We're on top of the broken tower where your kid fought against the Sith. I'm trying to figure out just the hell happened to him and why young Percy was here. If nothing else, I'm hoping that we'll be able to bring some sort of closure to his family."

The other end of the line was silent for a moment. And then three cracks echoed nearby as Master Nox, Kenobi and his former-Padawan appeared from thin air. "What've you found so far Vos?" Master Nox asked, stepping forward.

Even though she hid it well, Quinlan could tell that Nox was anxious to get off this island and back to the Temple. ' _And for good reason as well.'_ He thought, reaching down and lightly touching the pool of blood and slipping into another vision. ' _Her son was evacuated on the first medical transport. No doubt she wants to get back and find out how he's doing.'_

"He was wounded well before the Sith put his lightsaber through his chest." Quinlan said as his vision came to an end. "His side was bleeding profusely. Without any medical treatment, I doubt he would've lasted another twenty minutes or more. But…it, the stabbing, didn't happen up here."

Standing upright, he followed down the same path he'd seen in the vision, leading the five of them down below the ground level of the island and into a long dark corridor. Drawing his wand, Quinlan created a small sphere of light and set it to hang above his head as he walked. 'I have to admit…that little trick is damn useful. A lot better than using my lightsaber as a flashlight that's for sure.'

Walking down the dark path, Quinlan stopped abruptly as he saw something on the floor. A small blood trail. "Was there any fighting down here?" He asked, kneeling down and examining the droplets.

"No." Nox said, shaking her head. "All of the fighting was reported to happen at ground level or throughout what is left of the prison."

Already having a good feeling about what he was going find, Quinlan reached down and touched the blood. "They dragged him through here back towards the surface." He said, watching the vision flash in his mind. "He was wounded…the Dark Lord and the Sith were with him as well. It doesn't look like he was here willingly."

Continuing down the dark corridor, Quinlan continued to follow the trail of blood droplets deeper and deeper into the ground until they came upon what looked like an old tomb that'd been opened. The stone doors that'd had once sealed the tomb were covered in intricate runes. And one on the stone panels there looked to be a blood hand print.

"These…these are old." Master Nox said, stepping around him and directing her own light towards the door to better examine the runes. "Hmm…interesting."

Everyone stood silently as Nox lightly ran her fingers over the various carvings. "Hmm…most are native to the magical world on this planet. Albeit it incredibly old." Nox observed, moving from one rune to the other. "But these…these designs are unmistakably Sith in origin. And these ones here are Jedi. Yes…I'd recognize her work anywhere. Lana Beniko…you certainly out did yourself on this one."

"Hold on," Aayla said, coming forward and staring at the runes as Master Nox made her way into the formerly sealed room and began inspecting the other side of the doors. "Are you telling us that this tomb was sealed with magical, Sith and Jedi techniques?"

"Yes." Nox answered simply.

"Okay…what or who were they trying to seal away then?" Asajj asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Nox asked, turning her green eyes towards Asajj. "They were sealing away Azcarin."

"Why?" Asajj followed up. "A man that dangerous…wouldn't it have been better just to kill him?"

"They sealed him because they couldn't get to him." Nox answered, nodding towards the interior of the stone doors. "The interior of these doors are covered in Sith runes. Azcarin sealed himself inside of here and when they couldn't get to him. So they decided to seal him within the seal."

"But how could he survive for so long sealed away in here?" Obi-Wan asked, walking into the room with Nox. "Did he perhaps use the same method you did?"

"No." Nox countered immediately, turning her back on them and making her way towards the center of the room where an altar like object sat. "What happened to me was pure chance… or the will of the Force if you will. I couldn't duplicate what happened even if I wanted too. And neither could Azcarin. But for how he survived…" Kneeling down Nox felt around the base of the altar. "I can sense his presence…it was the Emperor. He kept Azcarin alive."

"That's impossible." Aayla spat.

"I thought that you Jedi were always preaching that through the Force, anything is possible?" Nox countered with a slight grin, making Aayla stutter. "And it isn't outside of the realm of possibility. In fact…it's the only thing that can explain how Azcarin managed to survive for so long. And this wouldn't be the first time the Emperor had kept someone alive for so long either. Through the use of Sith alchemy and his own power, he kept Revan alive and imprisoned for three centuries. But to do the same for three millennia…that…how would he have done that?"

Rising, Nox began pacing back and forth, ignoring the rest of them as she started talking slowly.

"He used soul anchors to keep his own essence from fading that much I am sure of; which means that he didn't need to expend his own power to keep himself anchored to this plane of existence. That would've allowed him to dedicate his power into keeping Azcarin in a constant Force stasis. That's why he was so weak in his tomb in Egypt. But even then…even the Emperor's power, which is legendary, wouldn't be able to sustain a perfect Force stasis like this for long…unless he was constantly regenerating his power that is…but…could he have? No. I would've felt it if he'd activated his Ritual again, or if he'd already had it going. But then how else could he have kept both Azcarin and himself alive for so long."

While Nox was still rambling away, Quinlan walked up to the stone door and touched the bloody handprint that was on that door. He saw Percy being held captive along with three others. The words were lost to him, but the threat was obvious as the young woman was subsequently tortured until Percy broke down, took an offered knife, cut his hand and placed his blood onto the door. Walking into the room with Obi-Wan and the still pacing Nox, Quinlan discovered one final small pool of blood.

Kneeling down, he touched the blood and closed his eyes. The boy had fought back after Azcarin was released, grabbing a hostage and holding his wand to his throat. There was a standoff…and the young girl was released. The girl…the girl then stabbed the kid in the gut and backed away to join with the rest of the Dark siders with a smile on her face.

"Man…that's dark even by Sith standards." Quinlan murmured, rising to his feet and gaining the attention of Nox as she stopped mid stride.

"What happened?"

Dusting off his hands, Quinlan winced. "Well, but the looks of things they captured the boy with three others. One of whom I believe was the woman he was seeing. Well they drag him down here, start torturing the girl and he cuts his hand and places his blood on the door to open it. After that they come in here and he manages to wrestle a wand away from someone and holds him hostage. The girl is released…and then she stabs him in the gut."

Nox sighed and shook her head. "Voldemort was always known for just how well he could manipulate people. But the Emperor…he's a in a league of his own. The two of them put together…and you have probably the single most manipulative and deceptive adversary in the galaxy."

"But why bring him down here in the first place?" Obi-Wan asked. "What did they need his blood for?"

Licking her lips, Nox walked forward and stared at the interior of the doors once again. "The Emperor has the knowledge to tear through the Jedi and Sith seals that were placed on this tomb. However, blood wards, like the one placed one here, are in a league of their own in comparison. The only way to truly dispel them is for the caster to dispel them, or one that holds a blood relation of some kind. The Weasleys more than likely have that connection. And the blood would have to be given willingly. Hence why he needed Percy and the deception. He needed a Weasley to open this door of their own choosing. Percy was the only one he could reach."

"But why go through all of this trouble?" Asajj questioned. "Why bother sealing Azcarin away and keeping him alive for three millennia. That doesn't necessarily sound like something a Sith, let alone a Sith Emperor, would do."

"And under normal circumstances I would agree with you." Nox nodded. "But Azcarin was named the Emperor's Wrath for a reason. And not just because he was loyal only the Emperor. You see, the Sith of old were incredibly varied. Some drew their power from anger, in fact most did. Some however drew their power from honor, strangely enough. While other's fueled their power through a mixture of positive and negative emotions. Azcarin however…he didn't care about power. He didn't care about ruling over people. He didn't care about advancing his position amongst the Sith. The only thing he wanted was to see worlds burn. And worse yet, he's good at it. Amongst our foes, Vitiate and Azcarin stand in leagues of their own."

* * *

Walking alone into the Voice's private sanctum, Darth Azcarin, the Emperor's Wrath, knelt before the Voice, who was seated on his throne. "What is the Emperor's bidding, my Lord Voice?"

The Voice turned towards Azcarin, his eyes alight signifying that it was the Emperor himself who he would be speaking too. **"Azcarin, the moment we have been waiting for is nearly upon us."**

Azcarin felt himself smile. Not at the prospect of the Emperor's plan coming to completion, but rather at the prospect of the open war that was about to come to pass. A war where he would be free to do as he willed. "It has been a long time coming, my Emperor."

 **"Yes it has, my Wrath."** The Emperor nodded. **"Three millennia of creating conflict across this world just to further enhance their abilities within the realms of science and the Force. But now, when they are finally ready to step out amongst the stars the denizens of this world have become soft. Weak. My imprisonment within Grindelwald has allowed this to come to pass. We will cull the weak, leaving only the strong for our new Empire that will traverse the galaxy."**

"Of course, my Emperor." Azcarin nodded. "I look forward to the culling my Emperor."

 **"I'm sure that you are."** The Emperor responded knowingly. **"But there is another matter that we must speak of. A matter of the utmost delicacy. A matter that not even my Voice is to know about."**

That took Azcarin back. In times past it was tradition that next to nothing was held back from the Voice. If anything, the Voice held back knowledge from everyone else. For the Emperor to exclude the Voice from this conversation… "What is your will, my Emperor?"

Motioning for him to stand, Azcarin did so without hesitation as the Voice descended from his throne. **"This vessel has failed me Wrath."** The Emperor explained. **"I told him in his youth that he should create no more than two soul containers. Three was stretching the limits of what was possible. But he ignored my warning and created six. In doing so his connection to the Force is less than a fraction of what it once was. It was only blind luck that he didn't turn his familiar into a seventh soul container before he became my Voice and I was able to stop him. Had he done so, his connection to the Force would've been permanently torn asunder. Even as it stands now, the only reason he is as powerful as he is, is because I am providing the power for him."**

"Then what shall we do my Emperor?" Azcarin asked.

Lips turning upwards, the Emperor turned his back on his and walked a few paces away before continuing. **"I have chosen a new vessel to become my Voice."**

Azcarin wasn't necessarily surprised. The Sith were always looking for the strongest after all. "The boy." He stated rather than asked.

 **"Yes."** The Emperor answered simply. **"When he lashed out at the dementors he unconsciously lowered his mental barriers and I was able to evaluate him. He has…potential. Just as much as this Vessel did when he was the boy's age. And thanks to Nox, he is well trained in manners of the Force. But while that might make him an ideal addition to our Empire…the true reason that he is to become my next Voice is because of what is locked inside of his mind."**

Pausing, the Emperor turned around to face him before continuing. **"The boy has had his mind touched by one known as the Father of the Ones, a group of Celestials. This Father imprinted knowledge into the boy's subconscious mind, accessible only when it is needed to prevent his mortal mind from being destroyed."**

Azcarin grinned at the thought. _'Knowledge from the Celestials in the hands of the Emperor? We'll be able to rain down fire and blood across the galaxy.'_ "And what of his remaining soul containers my Emperor?"

The Emperor merely waved off his concerns. **"Nox has already found destroyed four of the six. I have no doubt that she will soon locate the rest of them. And if need be, we will allow certain information to slip out of here. But once the last of this vessels soul containers are destroyed, I need you to kill this vessel so that I will be free to take control of the boy. Once I have attached myself to him, it will only be a matter of time before I overcome his mind."**

Nodding, Azcarin rubbed at his chin. "What about the young female togruta? The boy seemed quite…attached to her. A weakness that we could exploit perhaps? And he also had a connection with one of the red-haired females. A strong connection. One that almost seemed deeper than a simple Master and Apprentice bond."

The Emperor looked off into the distance. **"Possibly. I see that the apple did not fall far from the tree with that particular aspect."**

Azcarin grinned. "No it did not my Emperor."

 **"Regardless, you have your hands full my Wrath."** The Emperor stated, turning back around and climbing the steps back up to his seat. **"Trying to convince this vessel to keep the boy alive will bring about suspicion. The man may have disregarded my warnings and crippled his connection to the Force. But his mind is still sharp. And he is consumed by his fear of a prophecy that states that this boy will be the one to kill him. You must do what you can to ensure the boys survival until I can claim him. Now go and fetch my Dark Council. The time to enact our plan has come."**

Azcarin's brow twitched. "So soon, my Master? Are we not going to wait until we've collected our reserves before making our move on this world?"

The Emperor shook his head. **"No. While this Vessel has found that which we need to retrieve our hidden assets. However, should we attempt to do so at the moment Nox will notice and intercept us before we can reach them. She holds the advantage in that regard. No. We will put her on the back foot even further and prevent her from rallying any further allies. Our plan will stretch her resources thin, and once I have obtained the boy and begun the process of taking over his mind, then we will retrieve them. Now go, and fetch my Dark Council."**

"As you command, my Emperor." Azcarin acknowledged, bowing low before turning and making his way out of the room, his heart beating wildly. _'Finally…the time for war has come.'_

* * *

Staring at the powered down holo projector on her desk, Nox felt her barely contained fury threatening to boil over. It'd taken every favor, bribe, threat and plea that she could manage in order to even get the various world leaders to even listen to her. And after she'd spent nearly an hour laying out most of what she knew about Vitiate and everything that she knew about Voldemort and his Death Eaters, they flatly refused to listen her.

 _'It's either not their problem or they are so firm in their beliefs that nothing can harm them that they refuse to believe that such a threat could possibly exist._ ' Nox thought, recalling back to the conversation that she'd just been disconnected from.

She conceded the idea that a single entity that had existed for the past three thousand years and was responsible for most of the world conflicts throughout history actually existed was a hard pill to swallow. But it was the truth. Not that any of the world leaders actually believed her of course.

The President of the United States had firmly stated that even if Vitiate and this new Sith Order actually existed then they were nothing more than a terrorist organization. And if they dared attack the United States then they would face the same fate that the last terrorist group did. The President of Russia simply said that it was a British problem and hung up the phone on her. The various Presidents and Prime Ministers in Europe that were situated just south of the British Isles shunned her, but again they left without offering any support other than that they better make sure these new terrorists didn't leave the Isles. And it didn't help matters that most of the world magical governments had already reported that this issue was well in hand.

 _'They would rather die separated then even consider the idea of working together.'_ Nox growled, her hands tightening into tight fists. It also didn't help that she had no timeframe for when the attack would come. The spy she had left in Voldemort's ranks, the same one who sent the warning about Azkaban, had been unable to give her an exact date. All she knew was that the three Darths had taken their individual forces and left. Even Azcarin had disappeared. So the attack would come soon…or maybe not. It was beyond frustrating.

Spinning out of her seat, Nox paced the length of her office towards the large balcony overlooking the Temple grounds. Of course her anger wasn't solely caused by the rejection of Vitiate by the various world leaders, her emotions were still rattled after the battle of Azkaban just days before. Seeing her son laying there…it had shook her deeper than she thought possible. Harry, his Valkyries, Bill and Fleur were without a doubt the worst of the injured from the battle. But between herself, Master Fay and Andromeda Tonks all of them would be on their feet soon enough. Even Daphne, who'd had to have her arm magically and surgically reattached.

But it wasn't just seeing her son wounded so that'd shaken Nox. Hearing her voice again after so long. It'd been a shock that she still hadn't recovered from. _'Ashara_?' She thought, reaching out through the Force and searching for her long lost lover. Of course all that greeted her was silence. _'Damn it…why? Why won't you answer?'_

Sighing in defeat, Nox turned away from her balcony and made her way back to her desk. _'It doesn't work like that Nox.'_ She chided herself. _'It's not just like I ask and then poof, instant Force spirit.'_ Sighing heavily, Nox sunk back down in her chair and began idly tapping her nails against the surface of her desk.

 _'I can't stop what is about to come…there are too few of us and too many of them. I'll need to place everyone on constant alert, ready to mobilize on a moment's notice. But why hasn't he attacked already? What's Vitiate waiting for? Surely now, while we're still licking our wounds would be the best time to strike. So why isn't he? Does his delay have something to do with Narcissa destroying the cabinets? It's possible I suppose. That's the only hiccup in his plans that we've managed to cause so far outside of thinning his numbers ever so slightly. But why would he need those cabinets? To get into Hogwarts would be the obvious answer…but why does he want into a school full of children? I need answers…and there's only one person that might be able to give them too me.'_

Apparating right from her seat, she landed in the middle of the library. "Grand Master Nox!" Master Mallie blinked, her hand going to her chest. "I apologize, I didn't realize that you were coming down today."

"It's fine Mallie." Nox answered, waving off the Master and making her way towards the holocron vault in the back of the library.

Standing before the large circular door, Nox raised her hand and reached out with the Force to undo the locks on the vault door. "I'm only to be disturbed if it's an emergency." Nox said over her shoulder as she marched into the vault, letting the door close behind her.

The interior of the first vault looked much like the rest of the library except for on a much smaller scale. And instead of books lining the shelves, there were dozens of holocrons that she and Master Yoda had deemed acceptable for an Apprentice level Guardian. Reaching the door to the second vault, Nox once again raised her hand and undid the Force lock on the door. The second vault was designed in the same manner as the first, the only difference was that there were several books intermingled with the holocrons on the shelves.

Reaching the door to the third level, Nox actually had to place her hand on the vault door. While the first two vaults contained relatively harmless holocrons and books, everything in the third and especially the fourth vault had the capacity to be abused if one wasn't ready for them. That was why she'd installed several Force and magical locks on the doors that only certain Masters could disable.

Hearing the locks disengage, Nox took a step back as the doors slid apart, granting her access to the third level. This level was much different from the first two. The shelves were gone. Instead each holocron, or book, that was placed inside were contained within a sealed glass case that'd been warded and enchanted.

Walking past the various magical tomes and holocrons, Nox stopped before a case containing the most recent addition to their library. _'Okay Aedan._ ' She breathed, holding her hand over the case and dispelling the wards around it. _'Let's see if you can shed some light on Vitiate's motivations.'_

* * *

Sitting just beyond the viewing glass looking into the infirmary, Ginny felt lower than she'd ever felt in her life. Lying just beyond the glass were some of the best friends and companions she'd ever met, all but three whom were in a magically induced coma to help their recovery. Daphne, through a series of muggle and magical techniques, had had her arm reattached although it was not an easy processes and Master Fay and Madam Tonks had both agreed that a coma was best for the girl as she recovered to prevent any unnecessary movements that might undo the work they'd done.

Lying next to the blond was Ginny's own Master. Harry had been in bad shape as well. |The hamstring on his right leg had been severed. The muscles in his biceps had been shredded and his back was beyond a mess. Madam Tonks was actually amazed when she'd heard that Harry had actually managed to move at all considering his wounds, let alone fight off an entire horde of dementors.

Next to him was Ahsoka. While she wasn't in a coma like the other two, she was confined to her bed. If Harry hadn't acted as fast as he did…Master Fay and Madam Tonks both agreed that the young togruta wouldn't have left that island alive. But even with the miraculous power of phoenix tears, she would still bear the scars on her midsection where she was run through.

Across from the three was her brother Bill and Fleur. Bill had been treated and mostly healed, although he would still have a scar running across his chest. Fleur however had been in worse shape. Between impacting the wall and Bill impacting her, several of her ribs had been cracked, her left lung had been punctured and she had a slight rupture in her small intestine. Again, she was lucky to have even survived long enough to get treatment. But like Harry and Daphne, she'd been placed in a magical coma while she'd healed.

There were several others in the infirmary as well, mostly soldiers. Sirius had been admitted for a brief period of time after suffering from dark curse of some sort that Bellatrix Lestrange had hit him with. The rest of the Valkyries, as they liked to call themselves after receiving the name from Grand Master Nox, had been admitted for a brief time as well. Susan's face had been healed with a quick spell, but the kick that'd been delivered to her spine had dislocated one of the discs in her back and she'd been forced to stay in the bed for two days to recover. Luna had fared slightly better, but it'd still taken a variety of spells to fix her broken nose and cracked skull. Hermione had suffered from multiple broken bones and a collapsed disc in her larynx and had only been released that morning, much to the relief of her parents who hadn't left their daughter's side for a moment.

Of the seven of them, Ginny was the one who'd gotten off the easiest. Relatively speaking. Her body still shook on occasion, an after effect of suffering under such a powerful bout of Force Lightning for so long. But a single potion had all but set her straight and she was in and out within a few minutes. And it was that fact, that she'd managed to escape from the battle with suck little in the way of injuries while the rest of her friends were nearly at death's door, which tore at the young witch. 'I should've done more.' She thought, fighting back the tears threatening to form in the corners of her eyes. She would not cry. Not anymore.

Seeing Ahsoka's hand twitched slightly and Ginny's attention was immediately focused in on the girl. It was the first sign of movement she'd given in days. She wasn't the only one who noticed either as almost immediately Master Fay was by her bedside checking on her. Ahsoka's hand almost looked to be…reaching for something even. Or rather someone as Master Fay quickly put it together and with slight twist of her hand moved Ahsoka's and Harry's beds close enough so that the two were touching. Almost immediately Ahsoka's hand latched onto Harry's and she once again ceased to move.

That was another oddity. Ever since they'd gotten back from that Merlin forsaken island Harry and Ahsoka, despite being unconscious, seemed to have this unconscious need to stay close to one another. Ginny could feel through her Apprentice bond that something had changed between Harry and Ahsoka. There had always been some sort of bond between the two of them. But now…now that bond was something else completely. Ginny almost felt like an intruder on the two of them sometimes. It was…strange. Yet at the same time it felt…right.

"Hey there firefly. I figured I'd find you down here."

"Hey Dad." Ginny responded, not taking her eyes off of the infirmary even as her father sighed and took up a seat next to her.

For a time the two just sat next to one another, staring into the infirmary in silence. After a long time, Ginny's father was the one who broke first. "You're mother's worried about you."

Ginny felt like snorting, but managed to hold it in. The fact that her mother was worried about her wasn't a surprise, nor a point of contention. What was, however, was what her mother had tried to do after they'd returned from the battle. Of course, a part of her could understand where her mother was coming from. She couldn't imagine the shock her mother endured after seeing her eldest son being carried off a LAAT in a stretcher, her youngest daughter being helped off the transport and learning one of her middle sons dead…it was too much at once for Molly Weasley and she broke down in tears right there on the landing platform. But what happened next was what caused the rift between Ginny and her mother.

In her grief, her mother reacted without thinking and grabbed Ginny's arm and tried to apparate them away from the Temple. It was only because of the wards around the Temple which, will allowing apparation within, prevented anyone from leaving. Needless to say, with her nerves already frazzled, Ginny reacted…poorly. In that she slapped her mother. And her mother, never one to back down, had returned the favor.

By the time Ginny was able to pick herself up from off the pavement, her mother was staring at her with wide eyes. Even her mother was staring at her in shock, unable to believe she'd just raised her hand against her own daughter. Her mother made to apologize, but Ginny didn't give her the chance to explain as she simply got to her feet and limped past her into the Temple. Ever since then, the two hadn't spoken to one another. Not even during the brief ceremony that'd been held for the dead, including her brother. Ginny refused to even be in the same section of the Temple as her mother.

"I'm sure she is." Ginny managed to get out without sounding too sarcastic.

Sighing heavily, Ginny's father leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Ginny…you're mother cares for you."

"She sure has a funny way of showing it." Ginny shot back.

Sighing again, her father leaned back. "One day Ginny, when you have children of your own, perhaps you'll understand why your mother did what she did."

That one sentence made Ginny pause. And for the first time in a long time, she stopped thinking about how things looked from her point of view, and instead looked at it from her mother's. _'What…what if it'd been my daughter and sons that'd walked off that transport? What if it'd been my children hiding things from me…like the fact that my two youngest were being trained as warriors.'_

Sighing heavily, Ginny buried her head in her hands. She didn't want to break down, but the events of the past few days had finally caught up with her and with what her father had just said…the tight control that she'd had on her emotions snapped like kindling as she started bawling her eyes out.

"It's okay firefly." Her father cooed, moving closer to her and wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her in close. "It's alright. Let it out Ginny."

Ginny didn't want to, Force help her she didn't want too. But with her father's arms around her shoulders and his softly spoken words of comfort being whispered in her ear, she was powerless to do anything more than ball her eyes out. "It's not fair…" She whimpered. "They're…they're all in there and I'm…I'm here…I should've done more! If I had…maybe Percy…maybe none of them would be…"

"Shhh…don't think like that firefly." Her father cooed. "Do you think that they would want you in there with them?"

Ginny hiccupped. "…No."

Her father's hand rubbed at her shoulder as she continued to lean into him. "And what happened to your brother…none of us could've stopped that. He…he choose his path. And thanks to Master Vos we know…we know that he tried to do what was right in the end."

Ginny's hands tightened on her father. "I'm going to find her Dad." Ginny spoke with complete and utter seriousness. "No matter how long it takes. No matter how much money I have to spend. No matter who stands in my way. I'm going to find her. And I'm going to kill her."

Whatever Ginny had been expecting her father to say back…it certainly wasn't what came through his lips.

"Good."

* * *

Sitting in his throne, Voldemort smiled as he looked over the magical world map on display before him as various figures moved about the map as if they had a mind of their own. Each figure represented a portion of his army. And almost all of them were in position. "My lord, you called for me?"

Turning around, he found his ever faithful servant and right hand Bellatrix kneeling behind him. "Yesss Bella. Rise. And watch asss our forcesss take the muggle world with me."

Bella's eyes widened for a moment before narrowing. "The attack is…beginning my lord? Finally. Where am I to go?"

"Right here," Voldemort answered, motioning towards the empty space beside him. "By my ssside. Where you belong my dear."

Thanks to the teachings of the Emperor, Voldemort was more than able to pick up on the feelings of anger and betrayal emanating from his deadliest weapon. He wasn't mad. No, far from it in fact. Had she felt anything different he would've found it strange. "Thisss isss no ssslight against you my dear." He assured her, turning his back on her and facing the table once again. "In fact you ssshould be honored. I trust you more than anyone else to guard me during thisss time. But not to worry my dear, there will come a time for you to draw blood asss well."

Hearing her robes rustle as she stood upright, Voldemort let a smile grace his face as he felt her start to calm down. "I am honored by your trust in me, my lord. And you're right. I had been looking forward to showing those filthy muggles their rightful place. But I will abide by your decision my lord."

Focusing in on the map, Voldemort's heart started racing. _'At long last…it has begun!'_

* * *

Walking through the atrium of the International Confederation of Warlocks, Azcarin kept his hood up as he gazed at the various twenty foot tall statues dominating either side of the large room while various Force sensitives walked past him, completely unaware of his presence. 'Fools.' He thought, shaking his head in disgust. 'They have no idea of just what true power means…but they will soon learn.'

Making his way through the crowd, Azcarin stopped at the reception desk where a young human man was checking people in. Blinking, the young man's eyes did a double take as he finally noticed his presence. "Welcome to the ICW sir, please submit your wand and state your reason for your visit today. And please lower your hood if you would as well."

Reaching into his robes, Azcarin pulled out both his lightsaber and his saberstaff and set them on the counter, emitters pointing towards the clerk, before lowering his hood. "I am the Emperor's Wrath, Darth Azcarin." He announced himself, drawing more than a few shocked looks. "And I've come here today to kill you all."

Grabbing both lightsabers and saberstaff, Azcarin activated them simultaneously and crossed them through the cleric's neck. The entire hall erupted into glorious pandemonium as the clerk's head rolled off of his lifeless corpse. A few of the Force sensitives actually had the sense of mind to try and run. Not that it did them any good as the Sith's followers that he'd brought with him mowed them down with a barrage of spells as they tried to make it to the exit.

A few of the Force sensitives actually tried to draw their wands and fight against him. But their levels of skill were, quite frankly, pathetic. Most of the time he didn't even need his lightsaber to deflect the spells that were coming at him. He simply moved off to the side and let them hit someone else.

One incredibly stupid wizard had actually tried to shoulder charge him while he wasn't looking. Azcarin made sure to take his time with that fool. First by cutting him off at the knees and then removing both arms before leaving him to die on the floor without his limbs.

"Ah…chaos…" Azcarin breathed, throwing his head back and reveling in the sound of battle going on around him. "I have missed you so."

* * *

"-thank you all. And god bless."

The President of the United States of America stood tall and proud before the assembled masses of congressman, dignitaries and other government officials as they all rose to their feet and applauded upon the conclusion of his State of the Union address. _'Well…that didn't go nearly as badly as I thought_.' The President smiled, raising his hand and waving to the masses. _'Which is good…I need something to go right for once. Especially after this past week. Honestly…if that was Ms. Nox's idea of joke she needs to work on her sense of humor. A secret dark organization bent of destroying the world? Ha. She needs to stop reading so much fiction.'_

As the applause slowly died down and the President made to leave the podium, a single set of hands kept clapping. Even after everyone else in the hall had ceased. "Quite the speech Mr. President…complete and utter bullshit wrapped in empty promises and outright lies. Typical politician."

Narrowing his eyes, the President spied what was probably one of the largest men he'd ever met in his life walking down between the rows of congressmen and women. Beside him, he heard the two Secret Service agents that were assigned to him step up while his magical consultant, who was sitting in the front row, crossed his arms over his chest, one hand dipping into the sleeve of his other arm.

Stepping back up to the podium, the President took a second to compose himself. "Who are you?"

The man, who'd yet to stop clapping, stopped a few rows shy of the front row. "If you'd actually kept up on your briefings with your…'M' counterparts Mr. President, you would know every well who I am."

Blinking, the President's eyes briefly flickered down to his magical consultant. The two met each other's eyes, and his consultant mouthed the word 'Blackwood'. Recognition flared through the President's mind. _'This is the so called 'Dark Lord' of the United States? Huh. I was expecting someone more…insidious I guess. He's a bit of a letdown. But still…to walk in here so brazenly. But I can't let him use any magic. The cameras are still giving a live feed to the public.'_

"I do know you." The President responded, acknowledging the man. "You're nothing more than a terrorist with a death wish to walk so brazenly into the very heart of the free world."

Blackwood didn't seemed put off in the slightest. Instead, he merely smiled. "Terrorist? Hmm…well I suppose that could be true from a certain point of view. Your own of course. But from my own…I am far from a terrorist Mr. President."

 _'I need to keep him talking._ ' The President thought as he saw some of the civilians that'd been invited into the State of the Union being escorted out by security while Special Forces started slowly making their way into position on the top balcony. "Perhaps then, Mr. Blackwood, you can explain to the American people what you are hoping to accomplish here today?"

Blackwood smiled. "I thought it was obvious Mr. President. I am here on behalf of the magical community. For too long we've suffered under your heel. Forced to bow down to those who are lesser than ourselves. But that ends today. I'm here to accept the immediate and unconditional surrender of the United States of America."

Nox's warning suddenly started rattling around in the back of his head. But he pushed that thought aside. There was still no proof to her wild claims. "If that is what you expect to happen Mr. Blackwood, you are extremely mistaken. The United States will never bow to terrorist like yourself! Not now, not ever! Countless just like you have tried to take down our great nation, all have failed! And so will you! Seize him!"

Two Secret Service agents who were near Blackwood immediately rushed him to take him down. But once they were within two paces of him they…they simply disintegrated. One moment they were there and the next…they were nothing more than piles of ash falling to the ground.

The hall erupted in pandemonium as more than one individual screamed as everyone seemed to try and back away from the man at once. To the President's horror, Blackwood pulled out a small wooden stick and pressed it against his throat. "I wasn't expecting you to surrender Mr. President." Blackwood's voice boomed over the chaos. "You had your chance to save these people…and now it's gone. If any of you think you can leave, you're sadly mistaken! This building is completely sealed! Now Mr. President…this is our declaration of war!"

The lights congress flickered as the temperature plummeted down to the point where the President could see his own breath. And then they came. Dozens, maybe even a hundred black cloaks floated down from the rafters and descended like a plague upon everyone in the room. Men and women screamed as the creatures, whatever they were, started picking up anyone they could get their hands on. Security started shooting at them…but their bullets did absolutely nothing to stop them.

 _'Dementors_!' The President thought, paralyzed by fear as he watched the individuals that had been picked up by the demons fall back down to the ground as little more than husks. _'How? They're supposed to be under our control!'_

The President's magical advisor got to his feet and pulled his wand. But then he stiffened as Blackwood stepped up behind him and broke the arm holding his wand before grabbing him by the throat. Then, as if it were straight out of a horror movie, the skin underneath Blackwood's hand started to smoke and blacken. His magical advisor barely managed to get a single scream out before his entire body was consumed in flames from the inside out.

Then the next shock came as the Special Forces that'd made their way onto the top balcony started firing. Only…they weren't firing at the demons…they were firing at everyone else! Killing anyone that moved!

"Mr. President!" His security detail scream, grabbing him and pulling him away from the podium, snapping him out of his stupor. "We need to leave now!"

"What about the people!" The President cried as his security pulled him towards the back entrance and out of congress. "We can't leave them-"

"We have to sir!" One of his guards yelled as another shut the door behind them and stayed back to hold it shut as they made their way towards an escape tunnel reserved only for the President and his staff should the need arrive. "We need to get you out and to safety first sir!"

Coming to the entrance, one of his detail started entering the code as behind them the screaming became worse and something heavy started slamming against the door leading to them. "The doors opening!" His detail yelled, "get the President out an-"

Bright green lights shot out from the entrance of the escape tunnel, impacting the President's security detail and throwing them like they were rag dolls. Then something detonated, and the President went limp as he felt his body sail through the air before impacting something hard and then everything went black.

When he finally came to again, the President found himself on his knees in the midst of the Senate Chambers being held upright by two sets of hands on either arm. Although now the Senate chambers more resembled a house of horrors rather than the heart of the free world. Various senators and diplomats laid sprayed out over their desks, in their seats or even in the middle of the halls. The black cloaked demons were still floating throughout the hall, swooping down periodically and pressing their faces against an individual and then floating away again.

The men he'd mistaken for the security and Special Forces were scattered amongst the survivors. Every now and then one would stop and aim either their gun or wand at someone and finish them off before continuing on their way.

"Well Mr. President, I did try and warn you after all."

Craning his neck, the President found Blackwood leaning casually up against the podium, watching the slaughter with indifference. "Do you think this means that you won?" The President responded. "The United States will survive this."

"Perhaps." Blackwood nodded. "But it will be severely crippled. Your Congress is destroyed. The White House is a pile of rubble and the Pentagon is in flames. And if you were counting on your 'designated survivor', don't. They're already dead. As is your entire cabinet."

For the first time in a long time, the President felt something swelling within him that he hadn't felt in a long time. Despair. Complete and utter despair. In one fell swoop, this new enemy had crippled the most powerful nation in the world and left it leaderless.

"…You won't win." The President stated defiantly. "The magical governments and the non-magical governments will stand against you."

At this, Blackwood actually laughed. "Let me ask you something Mr. President. How does one fight two powerful entities that actually dislike one another? It's actually quite simple. You don't." Pausing, Blackwood stepped forward and began inspecting the flag just off to his right.

"You get them to fight one another. And destroy each other. At this very moment London, Moscow, Paris and Beijing are under siege from magical attacks. And at the same time, the ICW headquarters and various other locations including the school of Beauxbatons are being assaulted by a group of highly trained and effective non-magical mercenaries. The general population now knows of magic and that the people who wield it attacked their governments and will want revenge. And at the same time, the magical world will want revenge as well. And once the two groups have worn themselves down to nothing, the New Sith Empire will step in and take control."

Stopping his monologue, Blackwood reached out and lightly ran a finger down the flag. "Are you expecting me to beg for mercy Blackwood?" The President asked defiantly.

"Mercy?" Blackwood asked archly, picking up the flag and touching the base with his wand. "No no. I expect you to die. And in doing so you will be our message to the world."

Turning almost faster than the President could follow, Blackwood pivoted and the President doubled over as the eagle finial atop the pole pierced him in the gut. Agony unlike any he'd ever experienced shot through him as Blackwood righted the flag pole and set it back on the ground, leaving the President helplessly impaled atop the pole.

"Finish up!" The President heard Blackwood shout as his vision started to blacken from the pain as the eagle slowly cut through his body. "We have a busy night ahead of us!"

* * *

Sitting in the Vault, Nox was listening to her old friend Aedan speak when it hit her. An urgency unlike any she'd felt since the near extinction of the Jedi slammed into her from the Force like a brick, nearly doubling her over. Without hesitation, she apparated out of the library and appeared in the midst of what she'd come to call her 'war room' within the temple. The room was dominated with numerous holographic and physical maps of the Earth as well as rest of the solar system.

"Master Nox." General Rex greeted her, his weapon halfway out of its holster before he managed to put it back in place. "Ma'am, we were just about to send for yo-"

"What's happened?" Nox interrupted her General just as Masters Kenobi, Yoda, Vos, Ventress, Marek, Ti and Fay snapped into existence in the room as well.

General Rex blinked, but seemed to shrug of his surprise with relative quickness. "Ma'am, we've just received word. We don't know the specifics of what happened, but Washington D.C. has been attacked."

Nox cursed under her breath as she stepped up to the large holographic map in the center of the room. Usually it depicted the entirety of Earth, but at the moment it was zeroed in on the capital of the United States. "Vitiate?"

"Blackwood ma'am." General Rex answered before typing on a console and bringing up a video feed. The video showed Blackwood brazenly walking into the Senate chambers before he exchanged a few words with the President, and then all hell broke loose as dozens of dementors, armed soldiers and witches and wizards started tearing into anyone and everyone.

"Fuck." Nox growled, her hands tightening to the point where her nails started to cut into the palms of her hands. "Where is the _Wolfsbane_?"

"Last reported contact was thirty minutes ago ma'am." General Rex answered, "They were just passing by the moon and should be entering Earth's atmosphere within the next two to three hours."

"Tell them to redirect." Nox commanded. "I want them to head to D.C. and they can forget about being stealth at the moment. I want them to try and find anyone that might still be alive and retrieve them."

"Yes ma'am!" Rex saluted before turning back to his terminal to transmit her orders.

"As for the rest of you," Nox said, turning around and facing the Masters. "We need to try and head off any other attacks. Each of you will be taking a squad, a LAAT and a single fighter escort. Master Ti, you'll take London. Kenobi, head to the ICW headquarters. Vos and Ventress you're heading to Paris. Fay, you're heading to Rome, specifically the Vatican. Kento, you're off to Jerusalem. Vitiate's going to be looking to demoralize us. Destroying the Vatican and Jerusalem would be a step in that direction. Now get moving, all of you. Every moment you stand around here with your thumb up your asses is another moment Vitiate has to kill more people!"

The Masters barely gave her the slightest acknowledgement to her before they all apparated away. "And what about me ma'am?" General Rex asked.

"I need you to stay with me Rex." Nox answered, staring up at the map of Earth. "I'm going to be in need of your tactical expertise to get through this mess."

* * *

"I want to know just what the bloody hell is going on!" The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom shouted as he followed his security detail into the situation room. "And I want to know the status of our crisis response teams and the team that was sent out to secure the Queen and the Royal Family."

Within the room dozens of analysts were busy typing away on their computers trying to put together just what was going on. Not only in the United States. But also in Russia, China and even here in London. The attack had literally come out of nowhere. One moment everything was fine and then the next dozens of buildings were on fire and, if reports were to be believed, black cloaked demons were flying around the city killing anyone they could find.

"Well?" The Prime Minister yelled, rounding on his people. "Get on it now! People are dying up there! I want to know who is attacking us and why! Get on it!"

While the analysts quickly scrambled to do what he commanded, the Prime Minister let out a breath and turned towards the one man in the room that might actually have some inkling as to just what was going on. "Shacklebolt, talk to me, just what the hell are we dealing with here?"

Casting a quick look around to make sure that everyone else was preoccupied, Shacklebolt turned towards the Minister. "From the sound of things Minister, it sounds like dementors are attacking the city."

"And where the fuck is the Ministry?" The Minister growled loudly, before checking around and making sure that no one heard him. "I was told by Fudge that the dementors were under control."

Shacklebolt gave him a cold look. "If you remember Minister; Madam Bones, Madam Nox and myself have warned you that things in the Ministry are not as they seem to be. Fudge has been covering up a lot."

The Prime Minister felt like cursing loudly. _'Maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to take Fudge's reassurances and instead actually paid attention to the warnings that Nox was giving us.'_ "What's the status of the team sent to retrieve the Royal Family? I want them in a safe house immediately."

"Sir….the team has just reported in." One of his analysts called out hesitantly. "The Royal Family…they're all dead sir."

"What?" The Prime Minister shouted, as he felt his stomach drop.

"That's…that's what the team is reporting sir." The same technician replied somberly as everyone in the room stopped what they were doing to stare at the man. "The Queen…the Royal Family…all of them sir. God. They're…they're all dead."

No one spoke as the weight of what had just happened took a moment to sink in. "Bloody fucking hell." The Prime Minister breathed as everyone stared at him. "What…what about the crisis response teams?"

"We've…we've lost contact with three of the teams sir." Another analyst said. "They…they reported something about fire in the shape of…of animals and then…then there was screaming and we lost the connection."

The Prime Minister's grip tightened to the point of being painful as he gripped the railing in front of him. "And what of the other teams?"

"Reports are sporadic sir…but they're all reporting the same. London is…London has fallen. Parliament is gone." This was accented with a loud sniff from the woman who said it. "The…over a quarter of the city is in flames sir. And it's spreading fast. Nothing we've done has been able to slow it down. Other parts of the city are being raided by those…creatures in black cloaks they're…god…they're killing everyone."

Closing his eyes, the Minister took a few deep breaths. 'The attack has only been underway for a little under an hour…and already they've managed to cause so much damage. The Queen and the Royal Family are dead. A quarter of the city is in flames. Flames that we cannot stop. Flames that are more than likely magical in origin. And the rest of the city is under siege by the dementors. There's only one thing to do.'

Straightening, the Prime Minister found himself giving an order that he never thought he would ever give. "Sound the evacuation alarm for all of London." He said, drawing everyone's attention. "And…in the absences of the Queen and given the circumstances…I hereby authorize usage of the Rite of Annulment. Jennings…send word to the UN."

Several in the room seemed confused by his second command, but the few that were privy to the magical world paled and a few actually crossed themselves. "Yes…yes sir. Sounding the evacuation alarm now and…and sending the message to the UN headquarters."

Seeing that his orders were being followed out, the Prime Minister turned and made his way into his office with Kingsley right on his heels. As soon as the glass door shut behind the wizard, he drew his wand and gave it a quick poke towards the door before rounding on the Minister. "You can't do this!"

On anyone else Kingsley's glare probably would've reduced the poor sod to a cowering wreck. But it was wasted on the Minister who returned his glare with one of his own. Obviously Kingsley knew of the Rite, although how he knew the Minister didn't know although he did have a good idea. Especially considering that it was Amelia that recommended him for the job. And she was known to work directly for Ziri Nox.

"It was your people who attacked first Kingsley." The Prime Minister stated clearly. "It's your people that have let the dementors loose on the general population. And it is your people out there right now burning London to the ground! And the only reason that I haven't had you shot or arrested yet is because of your association and recommendation of both Amelia Bones and Ziri Nox! Also you've actually proven to be somewhat more useful to have around in comparison to my former magical adviser! But I can change my mind so don't tempt me!"

"Saying that my people are responsible for this attack is the same as saying that the Japanese are responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor!" Kingsley shouted back. "And this…this Rite of Annulment. You're attacking innocent civilians and children Minister! Not to mention attacking the Ministry of Magic? You'd destroy half of London!"

"London is already lost!" The Minister shouted back, slamming his fist down hard against the wooden surface of his desk. "We don't have choice Kingsley! This is war. A war the magicals started. And in war…sometimes you have to make difficult decisions. And I've made mine."

A tentative knock on the door brought an end to their argument as Kingsley twitched his wand again before tucking it into his suit. "Come in!" The Minister shouted, seeing a young woman standing just outside his door.

"Umm…forgive me sir." The woman, who looked to only be a few years out of university said tentatively. "But…umm…they need you out in the situation room. Something's blocking our communications."

Giving the young woman a nod, he cast one final glance at Kingsley. "Protocol is clear on this Kingsley…and my decision is final. The Rite of Annulment will be activated for all of United Kingdom…may God have mercy on us." He said before brushing past Kingsley and the young woman and making his way back out into the situation room. "Alright, what's the problem with our communications?"

Several of the analysts in the room started looking back and forth between one another. "Um…there isn't a problem sir." One of them responded. "Your request for utilization of the Rite of Annulment has been received by the UN and is being decided upon. And the order for a complete evacuation of London has been given."

The Minister glanced about the room trying to figure out what was going on, but everyone looked just as confused as he felt. "Alright," the Minster sighed, turning back around towards the small girl behind him. "What were you trying accomplish with this little stunt miss-"

Instead of facing off against a timid little girl, the Minister was met with a powerful backhand that nearly unhinged his jaw and sent him spiraling through the air, over the railing that separated the situation room into an upper and lower section, and to the ground.

Gunshots and screams echoed throughout the situation room as the Minister tried to pick himself up off the ground. _'What the fuck? She's hits like a bloody truck!'_

As he got up to his hands and knees, something heavy fell on top of him forcing him back down to the ground. When he turned to see just what it was, he was met with the blank stare of one of his body guards. The gunshot wound in the center of his forehead leaking blood out of his head and onto the floor. _'Fuck_!' The Minister cursed as he reached for the sidearm his dead body guard's hand. _'Sorry Jimmy, but I need this more than you at the moment.'_

Tightening his hold on the weapon, the Minister forced himself upright to his knees and aimed towards where the woman had been. And was met with…nothing. There was no one there. It took him a moment to notice that all of the gunfire and yells had ceased as well.

"Who got he-"

The words died on his lips as he turned around and surveyed the room. Everyone was dead. Whether by a clean shot to the head or several into the chest. The fact remained that everyone in the room was dead save for the Minister himself.

A single shot rang out as pain tore through the Minister's shoulder, forcing him to drop the gun he was holding and sending him right back down to the ground. "Now now Minister…you should've just stayed down. I'm actually impressed that your mouth still works. I could've sworn that I hit you hard enough to break your jaw. Or at the very least dislocate it. Ah well…guess I'll just have to try harder next time."

Holding onto his shoulder, the Minister managed to roll over just enough to see who'd shot him. The young woman that'd come into his office was standing just behind where he'd been standing, gun in hand and a cruel smile playing across her lips. But it was her eyes that drew his attention the most. They'd changed. He couldn't remember what they were before, but they were definitely not the malice filled dark yellow eyes that now stared down at him as if he were nothing more than a piece of trash.

Fighting against the pain in his shoulder, the Minister managed to back himself up enough so that his back was leaning against a desk. Looking around the room, he noticed one body absent. _'Kingsley…where are you?'_ "Wha – why? This…this won't stop the Rite from going through! Word has already been sent!"

The woman cocked her head at him and smiled even wider. "If you're wondering where you pet wizard went…don't. I put two bullets in him and then threw him through your office window." Pausing, the woman sauntered over to him with a definite sway in her hips before kneeling down in front of him. "And as for stopping this Rite…whatever it is. Why would I want to do that? It sounds like it could lead to further war. Which is what we want anyway. War between the non-magicals and the magicals!"

 _'She…or rather they, want war?'_ Nox's warning once again came to the forefront of his mind. Specifically the part about this 'Emperor's Children'. "Who are you?"

The woman smiled even wider. "Why you already know who I am Mr. Prime Minister. I'm one of the Emperor's Children! And after so long…I've finally heard the call of my father and awoken from my slumber!" Moving faster than he could follow, the woman raised her sidearm and somehow managed to get the barrel underneath his hand and into the wound on his shoulder. "And you should show me proper respect!"

The Minister couldn't help the cry that escaped him as the woman worked the barrel of the gun into the wound in his shoulder. "Ahh! Fucking bitch!"

"A bitch?" The woman questioned as she ceased pressing the barrel into him. "Do you know what a true bitch Mr. Prime Minister is? It's sitting around watching while some timid little cunt uses your body for two decades. It's watching as people walk all over you and you let them, despite the fact that you know that you could easily kill them all with but a flick of your wrist. That…that is a true bitch Mr. Minister."

Halting, the woman roughly pulled the gun out of his shoulder and pressed it against his forehead. "Now then…how shall I kill you? A quick and simple bullet to the head? No…that's too quick. Peel your flesh off with my mind? No…too messy and it'd take too long." Removing the gun from his head, she brought it back and tapped it against her chin. "Come now Mr. Minister…help a girl out here. How should I kill you?"

The Minister said nothing as he sat there, glaring up at the woman who held all the cards. _'No weapons…bleeding out…and she's far stronger than she looks. And she managed to take down a whole room of armed personnel without even breathing hard. Bloody fucking hell…I did not imagine that this would be the way I'd meet my end.'_

"Come now Minister!" The woman shouted joyfully, sitting down on his lap and pressing the gun right underneath his chin. "Don't make me wait all day. I'm giving you the honor choosing how you go out. Few get that choice. So come now, make it snappy, yes? Come on…don't make me beg Mr. Prim-"

A green bolt of light slammed into the girl with enough force to throw her off of the Minister and clear across the room. "Prime Minister…are you alright?"

Picking himself up, the Minister spared the young woman a single glance before looking towards his savior. Kingsley was leaning up against the railing in the room, one hand holding onto his wand and the other pressed tightly against his stomach. The front of his suit under his hand was covered in blood. "I'll…live."

"Good…" Kingsley breathed before dropping his wand and falling heavily to the floor.

"Fuck." The Minister groaned as he forced himself up to his feet. _'I might not know what's going on in the magical world right now…but Kingsley saved my life. That at least earns him the benefit of the doubt.'_

Making his way towards Kingsley, the Minister found the wizard lying on his back, one hand still pressed firmly against his bleeding stomach while his other was trying to reach into one of the inner pockets of his suit. "Let me see," the Minister stated, kneeling down next to Kingsley and looking at the wound. He didn't have much, or really any, medical training. But at the moment he had to do something.

"She got me twice." Kingsley groaned, "Neither…went through. One…one is in my liver I think. I need…small pack…right…right pocket."

Using his good arm, the Minister reached into the wizard's inner right pocket and pulled out a small leather pouch no bigger than the Minister palm. "What is it?"

"An emergency…kit." Kingsley explained. "It's…bigger on the inside. Reach in…need the small…green topped vial."

Finding the opening, the Minister stared down at the small flat pouch in confusion for a moment before working his fingers into it. To his utter amazement, not only did his fingers make their way in, but he was able to put his whole hand up to his wrist into the pouch before he started to feel a few vials. Pulling them out one by one, the Minister repeated the process until he pulled out a small finger sized vial with a green top. "Alright, now what?"

"Two drops…" Kingsley groaned, pointing towards his gut. "One…then when the bullet is out…another."

Taking the small dropper out of the vial, the Minister opened Kingsley shirt, pausing only momentarily to wince at the sight of the two bullet holes in his chest. With a more than slightly shaky hand, the Minister maneuvered the dropper over first one hole, then the other. Taking care to make sure a single drop of whatever liquid that was inside made it into the wounds.

Less than ten seconds later Kingsley started to spasm as his back arched up off the ground. For a moment the Minister worried that he'd accidently grabbed the wrong vial. But then something incredible and…impossible happened. The bullets were…pushed back out of the wounds. Wounds that were quickly starting to close. "Now…the second."

Giving himself a mental shake, the Minister applied a second drop to both wounds. Within moments Kingsley, who'd been on the brink of death, was sitting upright as both wounds closed completely. "Bloody hell," the Minister gaped, staring down at the bottle in his hand. "What is this stuff?"

"Phoenix tears." Kingsley winced, grabbing his wand and waving it over himself, making the blood that'd covered his body disappear. "They're a miracle cure for just about anything. But incredibly rare and expensive. But…they work. Hand it over, and I'll take care of your shoulder."

Nodding dumbly, he handed over the vial and let Kingsley examine his shoulder. "Is she…is she dead?" He asked as Kingsley used his wand like a cutting tool, cutting his clothes open enough so that he could get access to the wound.

"Yes," Kingsley nodded, placing a drop of Phoenix tears on his shoulder. Instantly the pain in his shoulder went numb and he could almost feel his flesh stitching itself back together. "I hit her with the Killing Curse."

Despite being mostly ignorant of the magical world, the Minister did know about that particular curse. "Isn't that curse illegal?"

Kingsley arched his brow. "Are you complaining Minister? If it makes you feel better Madam Bones did authorize lethal force if situation requires."

"No." He responded, rolling his shoulder. _'Shite…I think that stuff took care of my arthritis as well._ ' "Help me up Kingsley. I need to get word out that-"

All of the lights in the room went out without warning, casting the two into darkness. "Bloody hell," the Minister growled as the emergency lights came on as the generators took over. "Now what is…is it getting colder?"

Kingsley's eyes widened as he held his hand before his face and breathed into it. The Minister could actually see the man's breath. _'How is that possible? It's the middle of bloody summer?'_

"Shite." Kingsley swore as he looked around the room. "The dementors are closing in on us."

The Minister felt his stomach drop again. _'This room is in the very middle of the building. If they're so close to us…that means…bloody fucking hell.'_ "We need to get out there and fend the-"

"Hold on Minister." Kingsley called out, grabbing hold of him. "There's…there's nothing we can do at the moment. We need to get out of here. But we can't leave the traditional muggle way. I'm going to have to apparate you out of here. This will be more than a little disorienting, but it's our last option at the moment."

"We can't leave." The Minister countered. "There are still hundreds of people thought out this building that-"

"Minister." Kingsley cut him off sharply. "I'm an Auror and have more experience with dementors than most. And I can tell you, for the air temperature to be affected so severely, there must be dozens of dementors throughout this building and they're within a few dozen meters of us. Anyone who might be here with us…you can't help them. If you go out there, all you'll accomplish is getting your soul sucked out."

The Prime Minister didn't like it, but Kingsley had a point. There was nothing that he could do. "Isn't there a way that you can counter them?"

Kingsley nodded. "Yes, but in such tight quarters I would have to constantly keep recasting the spell until we got to the open and only that spell. And I highly doubt that the dementors are alone in here."

"Damn it." The Minister growled. "Alright…get us the hell out of here."

"Yes sir." Kingsley nodded, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I just hope that my old friend is near his home…otherwise we really don't want to drop in uninvited. Last person who did that was attacked by a pair of trash cans and had to be sent to St. Mungo's."

* * *

The man on his knees screamed in absolute agony as he clutched at his head until without warning his screaming stopped and he fell face first onto the floor dead as a doornail. Stepping over his body, Darth Mortis surveyed the main chambers within the United Nations headquarters in New York. Several corpses were hung up on the ceiling, bent over benches and laying on the ground. Due to the fact that the President of the US was giving a State of the Union address, the building had been relatively empty, just a few token guards that'd been easily dispatched.

But it's relatively empty state hadn't lasted for long as the Death Eaters, the servants of The Voice, that'd come with him had quickly brought him over a dozen foreign dignitaries. Each of whom he'd questioned thoroughly, tearing into their minds to find the answers he needed before dispatching of them in whatever way he wished. 'It's good to be a Darth.' He thought looking over at a bloody corpse whose skin had been half-way turned inside out. ' _Still need to work on that spell though…but I've almost got it.'_

"Darth Mortis…that was the last of the dignitaries that we were able to procure."

Turning, Mortis spied the Death Eater Rodolphus Lestrange out of the corner of his eye. If there was one thing that he had to give Voldemort credit for, he knew how to pick his followers. Rodolphus was powerful, smart and incredibly ruthless. 'Although considering just who this young man is married to, the Right Hand of the Voice…he would have to be hehehe.'

"There is no need to worry my boy," Mortis chuckled, moving behind the main podium in the audience hall and activating the computer behind it. "I got what I needed after dispatching ten of those fool muggles. The other dozen or so…those were just for fun. And I like being thorough hehe."

Once he had the computer up and going, he quickly located the program he sought and entered the ten twenty-five digit security codes that he lifted from the minds of those fools before leaning back and watching the program start to activate. "Forgive me Darth Mortis…but what are we doing here?" Rodolphus asked, looking around the hall. "Darth Azcarin is assaulting the ICW as we speak. Darth Blackwood off killing as many muggle world leaders as he can get his hands on. And Darth Nightshade is undergoing the ritual to activate the Emperor's Children. So why are we here when the fighting is out there?"

Mortis smiled fondly as he leaned forward and tucked his hands under his chin. "Quite simply my boy. You see sixty years ago, before he went silent, the Emperor assigned myself, Nightshade and Blackwood's predecessor specific tasks. Nightshade's was to create the Children. Blackwood's predecessor was commissioned to ready the new Sith army. And mine…hehehe…mine was to find a way to inflict as much damage as possible to the non-magical world to soften it and make it easier for us to take over."

"And that is what we are doing here?" Rodolphus gestured. "Softening up the muggle world…how? How will one of those…computer things bring the muggle world to its knees?"

Mortis continued to chuckle as the program on the screen fully loaded. "Oh my dear naive boy. These computers have the capacity to bring the world to its knees. But it isn't the computer that will bring the non-magical world to its knees. Rather, what it will activate. A failsafe that I helped the muggles develop sixty years ago to counter any potential threat to the magical world. The Rite of Annulment."

The screen before him flickered as he was granted full access to the Rite of Annulment's programing. "And from here…I can activate the Rite in all of the UN countries around the world. But what those muggle fools failed to realize when I helped them design this program…was that it could reprogrammed. So instead of aiming at magical settlements…it would instead aim at non-magical communities around the world. But that isn't all that this access will grant me."

A few more command prompts and he was given a view of most of the satellites that were in orbit around Earth. "After the muggles began sending their spying devices up into Earth's orbit, I managed to confound the lead programmer of the Rite to put in another aspect. That the UN, in the event of a global Rite initiation, would gain access to almost ninety-percent of the satellites in orbit. Both civilian and military. And now that I have access to them…" A few more key strokes and Mortis grinned vicariously. "I can deactivate them. And now the muggle world is blind. And soon…they will be on their knees begging for mercy."

* * *

Nox wasn't sure just how long she'd been standing before the holographic display of Earth, watching as her ships made their way across the ocean and towards land, but it was the longest moments of her life. She knew that this day was coming, had made plans on top of plans to counter whatever Voldemort, and now Vitiate, might do. But now that it was actually happening and she was able to read the scattered reports that were being filtered over the world via the media, the confidence she once had in being able to stop the attack from happening was starting to ebb away.

"Damn it." Nox cursed, as another reported filtered in.

The report before her was more or less a rumor, but it stated that for no apparent reason that one of the President of Germany's bodyguards suddenly started attacking everyone around him. Dozens had died before someone managed to put a bullet into the attacker's head. And while there was no word on the President's condition, Nox figured that the man was dead, otherwise they would've stated categorically that he was recovering. "Vitiate has activated his Children. Shit…I thought we'd have time between his initial play and then."

"Forced the Emperor to alter his plans, your presence has." Master Yoda hummed, holding his glimmer stick in front of him.

"Yeah and not towards our benefit." Nox growled, altering the display to show the location of the teams she'd sent out. The Wolfsbane was right over Washington D.C. Shaak Ti's group had made it to London while Vos and Ventress had reached Paris. Kenobi was closing in on the ICW's headquarters while Marek and Fay still had a slight distance to travel until they reached their destinations.

"Rex, contact Master Ti. I want a report on the situation in London right no-"

A loud crack interrupted Nox as Winky popped into existence right next to her. "Mistress Nox! Bad news! Winky has bad news! WInky come sooner…but Winky not realize until just now!"

"Winky," Nox shouted far more harshly than she'd intended. Taking a breath, Nox continued on in as calm a voice as she could muster. "Relax. Tell me what's going on."

Swallowing, Winky took a deep breath before speaking. "Winky was in Mistress Nox's office and… well Mistress Nox told Winky to look out for a blinking red light on Mistress Nox's desks and… and Winky saw red light blinking on Mistress Nox's desk."

Feeling all of the blood drain from her face, Nox all but dove for the nearest terminal. Her fingers flying across the keyboard as a cold sweat came across her brow. 'Force…not now. Not now!'

Staring in horror at the screen before her, Nox dropped heavily into the seat behind her as she saw the one thing she dreaded more than anything else flashing across the display. "What is it?" Amelia demanded, her head snapping back and forth between Nox and the large screen in front of them. "What's going on?"

"It's the Rite of Annulment." Nox answered, her fingers flying across the keyboard. "Someone in the UN Headquarters in New York has activated it."

Amelia's face paled and Nox could even feel the alarm coming off of Yoda. "Who…which country activated it?"

A few keystrokes later and Nox could feel a cold chill come over her. "All of them."

Amelia nearly hit the ground, in fact she would've had Nox not conjured a soft chair for her to land in. "What…how…who…why?"

"The 'why' should be relatively obvious Amelia." Nox spit out sarcastically. "From their point of view, the magical world just declared all-out war on the non-magical world. As for 'who', best guess would be whoever is left at the UN in New York. Let's just hope that I can stop the Rite from fully activating for long enough so that Remus and Aela can get to them and physically stop them."

"Wait – you can stop the Rite of Annulment?!" Amelia gasped, her hand going to her chest. "How? And why didn't you say so before?"

"There's a reason why I had my company take an interest in cyber security." Nox explained as she continued to type away. "Thanks to a few tricks that I learned from a Chiss Cypher, I managed to design a security software that was decades ahead of anything they could dream of on this world. And because of that, my company was contracted to supply security to several government locations. Including the UN. And once we got that contract, I might have created a backdoor in the program to allow me access to the UN mainframes. Just in case of course. And…there. I'm in. Now just to shut down…the…oh no."

"Something wrong, there is?" Master Yoda muttered, hobbling up to her and peering at the screen curiously.

"You could say that." Nox muttered, still not believing what she was seeing. "The Rite of Annulment…it's been altered. It's no longer targeting magical communities. Instead…instead it's targeting non-magical cities."

"What?" Amelia gasped. "Wh– where?"

"Just to name a few," Nox winced, looking at the coordinates. "Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Delhi, Cairo, Paris. Berlin, Amsterdam, Moscow, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney…just to name a few."

Being far more adapt to the non-magical world than the average witch or wizard, the importance of those cities wasn't lost on Amelia. "By the grace of magic…if…if all of those cities are hit. Then…then the world's population…"

"Best estimate…this single attack will kill a fifth to a quarter of the world's population by the end of the day." Nox commented, her fingers still flying across the keyboard. "And add another quarter of the population by the end of the week due to the fallout and follow up attacks."

Even Master Yoda was shaken by this. "Stop this, you can?"

"That's what I'm trying to do in-between answering your questions." Nox growled out from between gritted teeth. "Now unless you have something important to add…shut up. I have less than…" A red digital timer appeared across the screen starting at thirty minutes. "Less than thirty minutes until the first stage of the Rite of Annulment commences and the literal end of the fucking world begins."

* * *

Folding his hands behind his head, Darth Mortis leaned back in his seat and watched as the timer until the launch of the first stage of the Rite of Annulment commenced. _'Just twenty minutes left…and my plan will come to fruition. I wonder how the Emperor will reward me for this. This, this far exceeds anything he could've ever wanted me to accomplish. Perhaps he will grant me with another insight into the workings of the Sith. Just a few tidbits more…and I will be able to destroy him and Voldemort. And then I will take my place as this world's rightful Emperor.'_

But as the timer passed by the nineteen minute mark something strange happened. The timer simply…froze.

Blinking dumbly, Mortis leaned forward and stared at the computer screen before him. Raising one withered hand, Mortis tapped his fingernail against the computer screen, right over where the timer was being displayed. "The timer it…stopped."

 _'Perhaps I spoke too soon about the quality of Voldemort's followers._ ' Mortis thought with a roll of his eyes as he stared at Rodolphus. "I can see that you imbecile."

Stretching his fingers out, Mortis began typing away on the keyboard. _'But why has it stopped? Perhaps some sort of failsafe that was recently installed perhaps? No no…I would've caught that. Could someone else have stopped it? I suppose that could be the case but they would have to know about the Rite in the first place and then they would have to hack into the UN security network. Who could've done such-'_

Fingers freezing just above the keys, Mortis's eyes came alight as he realized just who had disrupted him. "Haha…it appears that the Emperor was not overstating her abilities."

"Who?"

"The traitor. The former Darth Nox." Mortis answered, not bothering to turn towards Rodolphus as he continued to work away at the computer. "But she made one fatal mistake. The Rite of Annulment is my child. And a parent knows their child like no one else."

* * *

"Nox…the timer is starting to count down again."

"I can see that Amelia." Nox growled. "Unless you have something useful to add, shut up. I'm trying to concentrate."

Nox had never typed as fast typed so fast in her entire life as she was right at that moment. There was less than ten minutes left on the countdown, and no matter what she did nothing was halting the timer again. As the clock wound down past the two minute mark, Nox let out a breath of relief as her fingers stopped moving. "There…it's done."

"What do you mean it's done?" Amelia shouted, her eyes wide. "It's still counting down!"

"Exactly." Nox nodded, feeling like she'd just run through the deserts of Korriban for two days without stopping. "I can't stop it. And I wasn't trying to. The only reason I halted the countdown in the first place was to give myself some time and to distract whoever had activate the Rite away from my true intentions."

"From your true intentions?" Amelia asked, flabbergasted. "If you didn't mean to stop this…Rite. Then what were your 'true 'intentions' then?"

Leaning back, Nox watched as the timer went past less than a minute remaining. "Tell me Amelia. How does one stop and unstoppable object from running into them?" Amelia blinked, clearly confused. "It's simple. You move out of the way and let it hit something else."

* * *

Folding his hands behind his head, Mortis smiled as he watched the timer count down with less than ten seconds left to go. _'You were a worthy advisory Nox. But I win this round. But still…this was so much fun. I can't wait until we play again hehe._ '

The timer reached zero, and all across the globe the silo's that were connected to the UN's mainframe thanks to the Rite of Tranquility opened and released hundreds of greatest weapon the non-magicals of this world had ever created. ' _Nuclear weapons are so interesting. And over a hundred at once…hehe…yes. The Emperor will reward me greatly for this accomplishment hehe.'_

But as he watched the weapons on the monitor reach their cruising altitudes, the smile that'd been firmly on his face for the last fifteen minutes slowly dissipated as the rockets kept going up. 'Something's wrong.' Mortis thought, leaning back forward and activating the diagnostics on the rockets. _'Everything is functioning perfectly…but then why are they…no…she couldn't have? Could she…no…no!'_

* * *

In the Guardian Temple, Nox watched with a grin as the nuclear warheads exited Earth's atmosphere. "I couldn't stop the launch." Nox explained, to the clearly bemused Amelia and Rex. "So I did the only thing I could. I distracted whoever activated the Rite with a delay of the countdown. And while they were busy trying to fix that, I hacked into the guidance systems and reprogrammed where the warheads were heading."

Amelia, clearly stunned, could only stared dumbfounded at the hologram of Earth as they all watched the representations of the rockets leave Earth. "What did you set as the coordinate's ma'am?" Rex asked, tearing his eyes away from the hologram.

"The sun." Nox answered. "The rockets won't have nearly enough fuel to reach it of course. But they should have just enough to break free of Earth's gravitational pull, then the sun's gravity and the warheads own initial inertia will carry them the rest of the way to the sun. Provided of course they don't run into Venus or Mercury first that is."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Nox leaned forward once again and began typing away. "Now what are you doing Nox?" Amelia asked curiously.

"The nuclear warheads are just the first stage of the Rite of Annulment." Nox answered. "The second stage requires the use of tactical chemical and biological weapons that are stored at several highly classified UN storage facilities. Whoever did this, if they were able to activate and reprogram the Rite, then they more than likely know about the locations of those caches. Luckily for us, the weapons themselves are not hooked up to the UN's mainframe like the nuclear warheads were. The second stage requires on site guidance in order to launch the weapons. And no one at those facilities would voluntarily launch against such populated cities so we don't have to worry about that. But I can't leave those weapons just laying around for whoever this was to find them. So…I'm setting off the base's self-destruct sequences and giving anyone within thirty minutes to vacate the premises. And better yet, once I've activated the self-destruct sequences no one can stop them."

Pressing one last key, Nox sent off her message. "That should give them more than enough time to get out. And it deprives Vitiate of a valuable resource." Letting out a long sigh, Nox dropped her head into her hands. "Well…if nothing else at least something has gone our way today."

* * *

Standing on his feet, Darth Mortis was seething as he stared down at the computer in front of him. _'She…she outplayed me! That…that bitch! The first wave was diverted and now…now our weapons caches that I spent decades securing are going to be buried under several tons of rock and rubble! That…that fucking bitch!'_

"Darth Mortis!"

Tearing his eyes away from the computer, Mortis glared at the young upstart that dared come near him. "What. Is. It?" Mortis got out from between clenched teeth.

Showing at least a small amount of wisdom, the young man stopped well short of Mortis and Rodolphus and went down on one knee. "My lord, the muggles are amassing down the street from here. They…they look like the muggle military we've read about."

Straightening, Mortis took a moment to collect himself. 'I cannot let weakness show.' He thought, casting a quick glance towards Rodolphus. While the young man was keeping himself composed, Mortis could sense the mild excitement coming from the boy at the thought of Mortis's failure. 'And shouldn't he be. My failure could be his ticket for advancement.'

"Set up the fire runes." Mortis commanded, waving his hand at the computer and completely obliterating it with a show of wandless magic. "I want the muggles to reclaim nothing but ashes."

 _'And in the meantime…I need to think of a new plan quickly. The Emperor is not forgiving of failure. And this…this could only be described a failure of the utmost. I need to think of something…and fast. Or I will share the same fate as young Rodolphus's brother.'_

* * *

"Alright," Aela called out to dozen armored and armed men and women standing within the cargo bay of the Wolfsbane. They weren't normal soldiers, but they'd all gone through the Clones' basic training regime, so they were better than nothing. "Listen up. We don't know what we're going to be walking into, so keep a sharp eye. Guns up, but keep your wands at the ready just in case. Remus! Where are we at?"

 **"Just passing by the Washington Monument now."** Remus answered back over the comms. She wanted to bring her mate with her for this, but the two of them had more experience than anyone else commanding this ship, so one of them had to stay. And he drew the short straw **. "Or at least what's left of it…it's…it's really bad out there Aela."**

"Noted." Aela nodded, hefting her blaster and doing a quick double check on her wand by drawing it into her hand before sending it back into its holster. "Just get us down there. Does it look like we'll have any trouble with the locals?"

 **"I…I highly doubt it Aela."** His tone did not do anything to sooth her already tense nerves. **"Standby, opening the rear hatch."**

Bringing her rifle up to her shoulder, Aela stood ready as the ramp slowly lowered. The darkness outside was illuminated by a soft orange glow, and as Aela and her team made their way down the ramp, there was no question as to where the dim light was originating from. "By God." One of her team breathed as they all looked around. "It's…it's all in flames."

"I heard politics was hell but I wasn't expecting this." Another man growled out.

Lowering her weapon slightly, Aela stared completely slack jawed at the sight before them. The muggle city of Washington D.C. was indeed in flames. The once tall and proud Washington Monument had been broken in half. And the Capitol building looked as if it'd been used for blasting hex target practice. Her werewolf hearing allowed her to hear gunshots and screaming coming from all around them, but they were all far enough away that they weren't an issue.

At the base of the Capitol building, there were two helicopters, both of which were turned over and broken into several smaller pieces. The steps leading up to the entrance of the building were littered with the bodies of soldiers that'd tried to make it in and the civilians that were apparently trying to make a break for it.

"Merlin's saggy balls and Morgana's tits." Another of her men cursed. "The attack has only been underway for what? One, maybe two hours? How could they've caused this much damage in such a short time?"

"This isn't the time for questions or for sightseeing." Aela called out, heading for the steps leading up to the Capitol building. "Grand Master Nox gave us a direct order to assess the situation. And check yourselves before firing. There might still be people left alive in there. Let's move out!"

The top of the steps wasn't any better condition. Bodies, both civilian and military judging by their clothes, were sprawled out on the ground, leaning up against the wall and one was even half in and half out of the door. "Dementors." Aela spat, looking down at one of the husked corpses. "Nothing leaves a body looking so…drained than the Dementor's Kiss."

Opening the doors, or what was left of them, her team made their way inside. If anything, the destruction inside the building was even worse. "Good God…" One of her newest recruits breathed. "This…this wasn't a battle…it was slaughter."

"Keep your attention in the here and now." Aela snapped, the flashlight on the end of her blaster illuminating more and more husked bodies. "Care for the living, we'll worry about the dead later."

Conditions did not improve in the slightest the deeper they went into the building. The destruction and death only got worse the further in they went. The pinnacle of death and destruction however, was only met when Aela and her team stepped foot into the Senate chamber. "Morgana…" Aela breathed, halting ever so slightly as her eyes widened and she took in the death all around her.

"Is…is that the President?" One of her team asked, nodding towards the podium within the chamber.

"Yes…" Aela nodded, walking down between the rows of the dead as she made her way towards where the President of the United States was.

The man had been…impaled through his gut onto a flagpole and left to die. It was as clear a message as could be. "How…how could they do this?" Her second asked, staring around in opened mouth shock. "I mean, you can't just stroll into the Capitol of the United States and start killing people on a whim."

"No you can't." Aela agreed, staring up at the dead President. "They must've been planning this for Merlin only knows how long."

 **"Aela come in. What's your status?"**

"We've found the President Remus." Aela said, answering the comm. "He's dead. As is what looks like all of the United States political leadership."

"Rodger that. Relaying to Nox, standby for further orders."

Letting go on her comm-link, Aela drew her wand and with a quick flick levitated the President off of the flag pole and placed him onto a table. It just didn't seem right to leave him up there like that, no matter what people might've thought of him. **"Aela, we've got new orders."**

"Lay it on me Remus."

 **"Nox wants us to head north and check out the United Nations headquarters in New York."**

 _'Wonderful.'_ Aela groaned. 'When It rains, it pours.' "Copy that. Alright everyone listen up! There's nothing more we can do here. We've got new orders to head north in the Wolfsbane and check out the United Nations headquarters. Let's move out!"

* * *

Tapping her nails against the surface of the Minister of Magic's desk, Dolores Umbridge glared at the men standing across from her. _'Muggles…why the Dark Lord and the Emperor think that we need these disgusting insects is beyond me. They're not fit to shine my shoes let alone stand before me as if they were my equal!'_

"So…I assume that the Dark Lord has explained the plan to you all?" She stated more than asked as she met the eyes of the one in charge.

"Yes." Was all she got in return.

 _'Ugh…the lack of manners on this one! Surely he knows he's addressing one of his betters! He should show proper respect!_ ' "Good. Now it is very vital that you do not stray from your assigned route through the Ministry. Target only the departments and people that were listed. And make sure that you exit through the route that we provid-"

"Lady, this isn't our first rodeo." The lead man sighed, holding up his muggle weapon and using the end of it to scratch at his hairline.

 _'Ugh! The utter nerve of this one! I'll make sure that I teach proper respect soon enough!'_ "Good…well then…what are you all waiting for? Get going!"

"Yes ma'am," the leader smirked while mockingly giving her a half salute before he and his soldiers turned around and left the office.

Leaning back in her seat, Dolores glared at the door that the soldiers had just left through. "Utter disgusting animals the lot of them. It would be far better if the Dark Lord and the Emperor just allowed us to exterminate them all. But no…the Emperor wants to subjugate them…which I suppose is a good option as well. But the nerve of that one…thinking he was my equal! Hmph!"

Off in the distance, Dolores vaguely heard the sounds of the muggle weapons going off, followed quickly by the screams of the filthy half-breeds that'd infested the Ministry. A low gurgling came from the corner of the office as the sounds intensified, and Dolores couldn't help but smirk as she turned towards the "Minister of Magic".

Pulling open one of the drawers in his desk, Dolores gave a disgusted sniff at the muggle weapon that laid inside. But…she had orders to follow. And the orders of the Dark Lord and the Emperor were absolute. "This is your own fault Cornelius." Dolores said sweetly as she picked up the muggle pistol and made her way over to the Minister. "I offered you the chance to join us, to join the Dark Lord and his noble crusade. But you turned us down. The death of your wife…and everything else that has happened is your own fault Cornelius."

The Minister didn't answer her. Not that he was even able to of course. After keeping him under the Imperius Curse for so long, his mind was almost gone. Not that he had much of one to begin with of course. "If it means anything Minister, I didn't want it to end this way." She said sadly, aiming the weapon at the Minister's chest. "But like I said…orders are orders. And if it means anything…you will be become a martyr. The Minister of Magic and dozens of magicals gunned down by muggles…it will be a rallying point for all of magicals to unite behind. So far well Cornelius. And know that your sacrifice will not be in vain."


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: So just a quick note, if I didn't get to your review for the last chapter I apologize. And on that note, thank you to everyone whose reviewed/alerted/add this story to your favorites! Thank you all so much for your continued support!**

 **Now I'm going to apologize ahead of time here, but I'm going to have to ask you all have patience with me with Chapter 22. I'm going to try my best to get it out in two weeks, but it's fighting me something fierce. I know what I want to have happen…but getting there is proving to be slightly difficult lately. So hopefully Ch 22 will be out in two weeks…but if it isn't please be patient with me.**

 **And lastly, a big thank you to HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon for the beta work!**

 **And for those who wished for it, here is an updated power-ranking chart. It's just kind of a general guideline and you can go from there.**

 **S: Vitiate, Revan, Nox, Yoda, Sidious, Harry (When using Father's Knowledge)**

 **AAA: Vader, Kenobi, Aayla, Shaak Ti, Vos, Ventress, Dumbledore**

 **AA: Mallie and Kento Marek, Bellatrix, Blackwood, Mortis, Nightshade**

 **A: Harry, Ahsoka, Amelia, Sirius**

 **B: Daphne, Susan, Lucius M., Remus, Aela (Above average witch or wizard)**

 **C: Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Maris Brood, Bill W., Fleur**

 **D: Ron, Hannah, Tracey, Krum, Cedric**

 **E: Average Witch or Wizard (Draco, most of Hogwart Students)**

 **F: Below average witch or wizard**

 **If you have any specific questions regarding a person I missed, ask me and I will place them. Oh, and as for timeline, Harry was born in the year 1990. So basically I just moved up the timeline in the books by ten years.**

 **Chapter 21**

Light. That was the only thing Harry knew. The only thing he could see. A never ending surrounding of bright light that stretched on forever and ever. He had no idea just how he'd come here, or even here was for that matter. Time had no meaning here. He could've been here for a minute or several days, he simply didn't know. He didn't sleep and he didn't move. He just sat there as if he was even sitting, and stared off into the distant unending brightness.

"Is…is anyone here?"

He perked up immediately at the sound of the first voice he'd heard in…Force only knew how long. But it was more than just the fact that he heard a voice. He knew who the voice belonged to. He didn't know how he knew…but he knew this person even if he couldn't see her. "Ahsoka?"

There was a subtle gasp, but he couldn't place where it'd come from. It sounded like it was coming from all around him at once. "Harry?"

Harry? Yes…his name was Harry. Harry Potter. A Knight in the Guardian Order. Biological son of James and Lily Potter and son of Ziri Nox. And the woman with him…was Ahsoka Tano. His lover– err– girlfriend. "Ahsoka?" He called out tentatively. "Where are you?"

"I– I don't know." Ahsoka answered back, seemingly just as confused as he was. "Where are you? I can hear you but- but I can't see you. And I can't pinpoint where your voice is coming from either."

"Same here." Harry answered back. "Do you…have any idea where we are?"

"No." Ahsoka's voice answered back. "Last I remember was fighting against that Sith and then…then you were hurt and I – I– oh Force. I– I was stabbed! I– I- oh no. Are we…are we one with the Force now?"

"Ahsoka!" Harry cried out desperately as her voice started to fade. "You're not dead! We're not dead!"

"How do you know?"

"Because before we both ended up…well here; I poured pretty much and entire vial's worth of Phoenix tears into your wound." Harry replied calmly while looking around. "And plus…if this is what it truly means to become one with the Force then Master Yoda and my mother owe us both an apology because this bloody well blows."

That got Ahsoka to laugh, a rich full sound that never failed to lift Harry's spirits no matter the situation. "Thank you Harry," Ahsoka's voice murmured as her laughter died down. "I– I think I needed that. But then, if we're not one with the Force…then just where are we?"

"You're in-between, so to speak."

The voice that spoke was soft and defiantly a woman's voice, but it was also definitely not Ahsoka's. Wheeling around in the light Harry tried to pinpoint the source of the voice, but just as it'd been with Ahsoka, the voice had seemingly come from everywhere and nowhere at once. "Who are you?" Harry shouted into the light. "Ahsoka? Are you–"

"I'm fine." Ahsoka shot back, and without knowing how he knew, she too was searching fruitlessly for the source of the voice. "Who are you? Where are you? Where are we?"

"Let's just say that I'm an…old acquaintance of Harry's mother, Ziri." The voice said softly.

There was a longing in the voice that was almost painful to hear. And without having to ask, Harry instinctively knew who the voice belonged to even if he couldn't see her face. "You're Ashara Zavros." Harry called out in the light.

"You're quicker than I thought." The voice, Ashara, sounded almost amused. "Although I should've expected that from Ziri's son. She always was incredibly quick. And despite what she might believe at times, a wonderful teacher and mentor. And not to mention the things she could do in bed…why there was this one time when we managed to get these two twi'lek dancers back to the ship an-"

"Don't need to know!" Both Harry and Ahsoka shouted at the same time, making Ashara laugh.

"Force you two sound just as uptight as I used to be. Before Ziri loosened me up of course, um…no pun intended there. Or maybe I did intend it hmm?"

Harry could feel his blood heating his face, even if he wasn't sure where his face was at the moment. "Please…no more."

"Oh fine. You two are just no fun. Although I'm sure that a good round between the two of you will lighten you both up to the more enjoyable aspects of life. Force knows it did wonders for me."

"Please." Ahsoka pleaded, her voice thick with embarrassment. "Can…can you tell us where we are? And how are you speaking with us? Are you…did you become one with the Force? Are you a…ghost?"

"I already told the both of you where you are. You're in-between."

Harry's face twitched. "Can you be more specific? 'In-between' can have a lot of meanings."

"Well unfortunately that's as good an answer as you're going to get." Ashara sighed. "You two are in-between life and death. Between mortal and spiritual realms. Between the realms of dreams and consciousness. You two could spend lifetimes trying to define this place and fail to do so. So when I say that you're 'in-between'…well that is as good an answer as you're going to get. And as for how I came to be here with you…well…being dead does have its advantages at times."

Harry swallowed at that. "Why…why are you here then? With us? I mean…not that I'm complaining. I've always wanted to meet you. But I'm…well…curious I guess. I thought the shroud around Earth prevented Force ghost from coming through. At least that's what my mother told me."

"And she wasn't wrong." Ashara answered. "But the shroud is weakening. Quickly. How or why I do not know. The shroud predates my finding of Earth."

"What do you mean, your finding of Earth?" Ahsoka asked. "You're…you're one with the Force."

"Yes, one with the Force, not omnipotent. There are limits to what we can do and see. And the shroud blocked Earth from even the sight of the Force. Even though the Force still flowed through it. To put it simply, from my point of view Earth is a black hole in the middle of a river. You can see water flowing into it, but actually seeing where the water is flowing from there is impossible."

"So Earth is like a black hole from the Force's point of view." Ahsoka summed up.

"Basically." Ashara nodded. "But because I shared such a connection with Ziri I've been able to pierce through the darkness and see inside. I've only been able to catch glimpses, and it is only recently that I've actually been able to reach out to your mother Harry. But even then, those glimpses and reaching out to your mother was taxing beyond belief. The only reason I've been able to talk to the two of you for so long is because you're in this…'in-between'. And speaking of…I'd better get to the whole reason I came to you. I can already feel my strength fading trying to keep this connection."

"Please." Harry nodded. "Any insight you can give us into this…situation and how to get out of it would be much appreciated."

"Well, it's like this," Ashara began before hesitating. "Quite simply…the Force itself brought the two of you here so that you two could stabilize while your mortal shells recovered."

"Wait, the Force brought us here to stabilize? What do you mean by that?" Ahsoka asked, mirroring Harry's own thoughts on the matter.

"You share a bond with one another." Ashara explained. "One that was stronger than any Master and Apprentice bond even before the two of you met. And it has only grown in strength since then. And after what happened during your last battle…well you two weren't just using the Force. You were using the Force through one another. Doing so should've been impossible, but you two did it. And together you managed to destroy over thirty of those dark creatures you call dementors. But in doing so you two have…become one with each other. Almost literally. When looking at the two of you through the eyes of the Force as I do, it's almost impossible to distinguish the two of you apart now. You're still your own person. But your connections to the Force are almost fully shared between the two of you."

Harry was struck speechless. He knew that the bond that he shared with Ahsoka was deep. Even deeper than the one he shared with Ginny. But for it to go so deep that in the eyes of the Force he and Ahsoka were almost one and the same…it boggled the mind. "Does…does this mean we're…married?" Ahsoka asked tentatively.

Harry nearly winced. _'Merlin's balls…does she need to make it sound like a prison sentence_?'

"I did not make it sound like a prison sentence Potter!" Ahsoka shouted, making Harry freeze.

 _'Ahsoka…I didn't say that aloud…I thought it. Just like I'm thinking this right now.'_

"Pull the other one Potter." Ahsoka shot back, sounding far less certain of herself than he was used too.

"In some cultures you two could be considered married." Ashara interrupted. "Which is good for you two. All the more reason to get to the fun of the bedroom sooner, huh? But as for just what you two can do with this bond…you're going to have to figure that out for yourselves. I doubt that there has been anyone in history with a bond as deep as the one you two now share."

"But…but how is that possible?" Harry asked timidly.

"What is known about the Force is dwarfed by that which is unknown Harry." Ashara lectured, sounding far too much like his mother in that moment. "I'm sure that your mother has told you this before no? But now our time is at an end. But before you two leave for the waking world, I need to tell you two something. The darkness has made its move. Earth is the tipping point. If it falls, the galaxy succumb to the dark side forever. So pressure right? Oh, and Harry. Give your mother my love. And tell her to stop holding back. And tell her that the answers that she seeks are closer than she could ever imagine. I wish that I could give the two of you more to go on that just those cryptic words, but as I said. Earth is obscured from the view of the Force and that was all I could ascertain. Now both of you…wake up."

* * *

Sitting beside Harry and Ahsoka in the medical wing of the Temple, Ginny Weasley was staring blankly at the large book open in her lap. The attack had started. The dark side was attacking both the magical world and the muggle world, and here she was confined to the Temple by Grand Master Nox. She wanted to be out there fighting those bastards with the rest of her friends and family. Granted she was, along with the rest of the Valkyries, were still recovering slightly from their ill-fated confrontation with an actual Sith Lord. But still. There was a war going on! And she was being forced to sit on her bloody hands like a bump on a log! It was driving her completely insane!

Hearing a light whimper, Ginny ceased her loathing long enough to look up. Sitting just across from her on the other side of the bed next to Ahsoka was Nat. The little green nautolan had her head resting against the bed next to Ahsoka sleeping soundly save for the slight whimpers she gave off from time to time.

Placing her book aside, Ginny got up from her seat and grabbed a spare blanket from one of the other beds before making her way around and gently covering the young girl with it. The poor little girl had not been handling the fact that Ahsoka had been hospitalized well. She didn't blame anyone, at least at first glance. But Ginny knew better. The young girl's thoughts mirrored her own. That if she were better, or even there for that matter, then her Master wouldn't be laid up and currently fighting for her life.

Once Nat was properly covered, Ginny spared a quick glance across the room at the other occupants. Luna was sound asleep, curled up into a small ball in the chair next to Daphne's bed. Involuntarily, Ginny's eyes flickered down to the girl's arm. It still amazed her that Madam Tonks and Fay were even able to reattach the limb at all. Once she woke she would have to undergo severe physical training in order to get functionality of her arm back, but at least it was still there.

Bill and Fleur were still in the hospital. Their beds side by side as both slept during their healing. And across from them still sound asleep was Narcissa Malfoy. 'Narcissa Black.' Ginny forcibly reminded herself. 'She's not a Malfoy anymore.'

The day before Sirius had come into the hospital with a goblin representative and, with Master Fay's permission, awoken the elder woman just long enough to get her legal coherent enough to agree to the annulment of her marriage to that piece of scum Lucius. 'I need to remember that.' Ginny sighed, taking her seat once more. 'Narcissa has done a lot for us. Bloody hell, she turned traitor and spied on first her husband and then the Dark Lord for Merlin only knew how long. She deserves the benefit of the doubt. Despite what her family name used to be.'

As Ginny took her seat once more to resume her vigil, something happened that froze her solid. Harry's hand twitched. Then his arm twitched. Then his face twitched. Then almost as if they'd planned it all along, Harry and Ahsoka both opened their eyes simultaneously. "Harry?" Ginny called out tentatively, rising from her halfway down position so she was standing over her friend and Master.

Harry's eyes moved around clearly confused as if he were trying to figure out just where he was before his eyes latched onto hers. "Ginny." He croaked. "Where-"

"Take it easy." She commanded, immediately running away and grabbing a glass of water that'd been left off to the side for when the two of them awoke. "Here," she said, placing the straw against his lips. "Drink. Slowly."

Harry's lips closed around the plastic straw and began sucking. Tentatively at first before tilting his head upwards and sucking more eagerly as he began to drain the glass. "Easy." Ginny chided, taking the glass and straw away from him as he began to cough.

Nat, who'd by then awoken fully and began bouncing on the balls of her little feet, eagerly took the glass from Ginny and repeated the process with Ahsoka. "Ginny," Harry coughed, his voice sounding less rough than it had. "How long?"

"A few days." Ginny answered. "Everyone else save for Daphne, Bill, and Fleur are already up and healed."

Harry's eyes widened slightly as she read off the names. "Daphne…is she…"

"She'll be fine." Ginny assured her Master. "I don't know how, but Madam Tonks and Master Fay managed to reattach her arm. Her real arm. She's still sleeping off the healing effects and when she wakes Master Fay said that it'll take her sometime before she regains full mobility of her arm once more. But she will recover."

"Thank the Force." Harry breathed, clearly relieved. Beside him, Ahsoka's actions mirrored Harry's and as one they both reached out for each other's hands without even looking.

'Stop that!' Ginny chided herself as she felt a brief pang of jealously swell within her. 'He's hers…and she's his.' That thought stopped her dead. 'When has my jealousy morphed into...both of them? What the…why…I mean…oh shite!'

"Ginny," Harry said, his head turning towards her while his eyes stared off blankly into the distance. "What's…why is it so dark?"

Ginny hesitated while pushing the sudden strange feelings to the back of her mind. 'He couldn't…no. He does. Somehow he does. He's always had a connection to the Force that was near the point of baffling. But this is just getting ridiculous.' "The Emperor has made his move Harry." Ginny explained slowly, gaining both Harry's and Ahsoka's attention. "TheNew Sith Order, as they're naming themselves, have declared war on the entire world."

* * *

Spinning the tumbler around on the table, the Prime Minister of Britain eyed its contents warily. 'It looks like scotch…or maybe even bourbon. _'Either way…I doubt they'd saved me just to poison me. And Lord knows I need it after last night._ ' Decision made, he picked up the glass and threw back the three fingers worth of liquor in one go. And instantly regretted it as he immediately felt his throat constrict and his face instantly enflame.

"Easy there Minister. That shit's potent even to us magicals. Does a real number on you muggles."

Pressing his fist against his chest in a futile effort to stop the coughing fit threatening to leave him as he glared up at the heavily scarred man in front of him. "I can handle it just–"he stopped to cough "fine. Auror Moody."

"Whatever ya say Minister." Moody grumbled before opening his seemingly never ending flask and pouring another three fingers worth into his glass. "Drink up. You're gonna need it."

Picking up the refilled glass full, the Minister leaned back into the soft couch and swirl the contents of the glass around, debating internally whether or not he should drink it or not. 'The first glass didn't kill me…although it was a bloody close call. The second one can't be too bad.'

The decision on whether or not to drink the liquor was made for him however as Shacklebolt made his way back into the room. Setting his glass down, the Minister eyed the dark skinned Auror wearily. It wasn't the Auror that made him nervous, the man had saved his life after all, but rather it was the news that he was sure to be bringing that made him wary. "How bad is it?"

"It's bad Minister." Shacklebolt said wearily as he took the seat across from him and buried his head in his hands. "The dementors and the witches and wizards who'd set the blaze are gone, but their effects are still being felt across the city. Half of London is in ashes and the fires are still going despite the best efforts of your fire brigade."

 _'Bloody hell_.' The Minister groaned. _'How many people died? How many are going to die? And all I can do is sit here on my fat arse like a bump on a log. Some Minister I am.'_ "And what is the response from the Magical Ministry and Fudge in particular regarding these events?"

When neither man answered his question, the Minister looked up and found both men to be suppressing winces. "There's bad news on that front as well." Shacklebolt said, picking up the glass the Minister had set aside and draining its contents before continuing on. "Fudge was assassinated and the British Ministry was attacked by a muggle military cell of unknown origins. Dozens are dead and more are wounded. The ICW Headquarters have been attacked as well and almost everyone within slaughtered."

The Minister felt his stomach sink even lower, if that was even possible. "Who?" He asked, turning to the two men. "Is it the same people who are attacking everyone else?"

"Undoubtedly." Moody grumbled. "They call themselves the 'New Sith Order'. Whatever the bloody hell that is. Or at least that was what I was able to get out of the one bloody idiot I managed to question before he kicked the bucket on me mid questioning. Still, one less Death Eater to worry about."

"But while it was more than likely the same people that attacked both the magical and the mundane world, their methods for each attack were drastically different." Shacklebolt pressed on. "So far as I can tell, and these reports are scattered and mostly rumor based seeing as how the attacks just happened a few hours ago. Every time they attacked the mundane world they did so with witches and wizards in full view and dementors backing them. However whenever they attacked the magical community, they did so with muggle strike forces using muggle weapons and tactics."

"Smart." Moody nodded. "Muggles are used to fighting muggles. And magicals are used to fighting magicals. But they are not used to fighting against one another. They won't know how to counter the attacks."

While the scarred Auror had a point, something woman who attacked him had said was sticking in his mind. "War." He said, drawing both of men's attention. "They want war."

"Well they're getting it." Shacklebolt scoffed. "In spades."

"No." The Minister replied, shaking his head. "Think about it. The attackers have not identified themselves. All that we know so far is that the United States government was pretty well buggered by a group of magicals. At the same time another group of magicals wiped out the Royal Family of Britain and destroyed Parliament. Who knows which other government agency or body has been attacked. Then on the other side of the coin, the magicals have suffered causalities as well. Your version of the UN has been attacked by a non-magical strike force and the British Minister of Magic has been assassinated by another non-magical strike force.

"As Auror Moody stated, they might be doing this simply to fight using elements that they're targets won't know how to counter. However if you look at it deeper, there is an ulterior motive. Magicals are attacking non-magicals at will from one point of view. And from the other non-magicals are attacking magicals. What would be the appropriate response to such an action? Go to war against the other faction. This…New Sith Order if that's what they're called. They're not trying to fight against both the magical world and the non-magical world. They're trying to get the magical world and the non-magical world to fight against each other. And destroy each other. And then when the flames of war have died down…they'll come in a cleanup whatever group is left with ease."

Both men were silent as they slowly digested what he'd just laid out for them. "Bloody fucking hell." Moody growled, taking another almost impossibly long pull from his flask. "That fucker…he's playing all of us for fucking fools and laughing about it."

"We need to get the word out."

"How?" The Minister scoffed at Shacklebolts suggestion, even though he knew it to be the right one. "Those wizards that attacked London destroyed all of the media outlets in the city. Not to mention I doubt anyone would believe me. Not with this crazy arse story. Bloody hell, I hardly even believe it."

"Nox." Moody said solemnly, catching both of the other occupants off guard. "We need to get you to her. If there's anyone who can help steer us through this crisis it'll be her."

 _'Ziri Nox_.' Just thinking her name made the Minister want to curse. Not at her. But at his own stupidity and overconfidence. _'I should've listened to her when she tried to warn all of us about this threat. I should've taken her more seriously. But maybe…just maybe it isn't too late to try and listen now.'_

"What can she do?" The Minister asked, fishing for information.

MI6 had two whole file cabinets dedicated to her. First because she was a successful business woman that created one of the most powerful and influential companies in the world in a matter of a few years after literally appearing out of thin air. Not only that, but she also started to put together her own private army of sorts. Not that that piece of information was public knowledge or even confirmed…but everyone knew that she had one. They just didn't know who they were or even where they were.

The second cabinet became necessary after discovering that she was a witch. Although that one was considerably less full than the first. ' _There are a lot holes in our information on her.'_ He thought, staring at the two men. _'Maybe these two will be able to give me some more info on her.'_

"A lot." Moody grumbled. "She's more powerful magically than you can possibly imagine. Not to mention her physical skills which would put even the greatest of your soldiers to shame if her boy is any proof of her abilities. She also has allies that…bloody hell they defy imagination. Even for a bloody fucking wizard that's spent his life hunting down the darkest elements of our society. Not only that, but she knows something of this enemy that we're facing. I don't know what she knows, only those closest to her knows that. But she knows something."

The man was right. At the moment he had no means of communicating with the people of Britain. Hell, after the whole incident with that woman in situation room he wasn't even sure he could trust anyone still alive in his government. If there was even anyone left in the first place. "Alright…but how do we get a hold of her?" He asked, turning his attention back to the two men.

Getting up from his seat, Moody hobbled his way over to a cabinet and after scrounging around within for a minute, came back with flat rock in his hand. "Nox gave this to me a while back." He grumbled, tossing it over to Shacklebolt. "It's an emergency portkey that will take the two of you to a safe house of hers. If she's worth anything, she's got detection spells all around the ruddy place to tell her if someone shows up. You two take that and head over there and wait for her. To activate it press the runes in this order: seven-three-one-nine-zero."

The Minister didn't exactly care for the idea of running away, especially when all of the United Kingdom was under siege. But at the moment he really didn't have much of a choice in the matter. He needed help to deal with this…New Sith Order. And Nox was the only person in the entire world would could potentially have the information he needed. "Alright." The Minister nodded. "I don't like running away from a fight, but at the moment I guess there's no helping it. Let's do this."

* * *

Apparating back onto one of the many landing platforms of the Guardian Temple, Nox let go of the two arms she was holding onto. One was perfectly fine, having been an experience in apparation. The other was…not so well versed. As was exemplified as he immediately bent over and began emptying what seemed like several meals worth of food out onto the platform. "Good god." The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom gasped as he wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. "How in god's name do you people get used to traveling like…that?"

"You just do." Nox answered as she strode away from the Minister and towards the entrance without a single glance back.

When Winky had informed her that the wards surrounding the safe house she'd set up for Moody had been tripped, she immediately apparated to the location in order to collect the veteran Auror. But what awaited her there was not the scarred Auror, but rather Amelia's plant within the British government and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. While they were certainly not what she'd been expecting, she wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. And with barely a word utter to either of the two men, she grabbed their arms and apparated the two of them back to the Temple.

"Good lord," the Minister gasped as he finally got a look at the Temple. "How…when…holy shite. When did you build this? And how did no one know about it?"

"Quite recently." Nox answered without slowing per pace. "And I paid a lot of money to make sure that no one knew about it Minister."

As the trio walked into the Temple, the Minister's eyes only widened. "Good lord…this place is…massive. By the way…where exactly are we? And where are we going?"

"To your first question, this Temple is located somewhere in the Atlantic and that is as much as you're getting on that topic." Nox answered as the trio began ascending the stairs that would eventually lead them to the war room within the Temple. "And to your second, we're heading for our version of a situation, or war room if you will."

"Alright." The Minister nodded, however after thirty minutes of walking up stairs and down corridors, the Prime Minister was starting to show signs of fatigue. "Good lord…how bloody large is this place? Haven't you people heard of elevators?"

"Yes," Nox answered with a grin. "But few here actually need them so I didn't bother putting them into the designs."

"My legs will thank you in the morning." The Minister huffed. "How much further?"

Nox shrugged. "Not far. If you don't think that you can keep up I can always apparate you there. Or maybe turn your lapel pin into a portkey and drop you right into the middle of the room."

"No thank you. I'm fine." The Minister said, suddenly standing straighter while off to the Kingsley shook his head chuckling slightly.

By the time they got to the war room, the trio found that the room had been filled almost to the brim. Just about everyone who wasn't out on missions to try and salvage what they could of this disaster were trying to pitch in in some manner or other. Arthur was staring at the computers looking completely lost but hanging onto everyone word Hermione was saying as she explained the basic concepts of the device. Rex and Amelia were standing in the center of the room before the large circular hologram quietly talking amongst themselves. And across from them were Jean-Claude and Antoinette Delacour and Yoda was sitting on the edge of the circular display holographic terminal. But it was the individuals with their backs turned towards her and standing next to the Delacours that drew her attention almost immediately.

"Harry." She said softly, making her way quickly across the room and towards her son.

Harry turned around just as she reached him, a slight grin across his face. Without a word she reached up and placed a hand on either of her son's temple and began feeling him through the Force. "You're still in pain."

His grin faltered. "So are a lot of others mother. I can't sit around and do nothing. You know that better than anyone."

"I know." She smiled back, patting him on the cheek before letting go of his head and taking a step back and motioning for her two guests to come forward. "I'm sure that you all know Kingsley Shaklebolt, if not personally than by reputation. And with him is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Minister, this is my son Harry Potter. His girlfriend Ahsoka Tano. You already know Amelia Bones. The little green one is Master Yoda, a Guardian much like myself only far more senile. This here is the commander of my…private army as you might call them General Rex. And this is Jean-Claude and Antoinette Delacour. Diplomats representing the French Ministry of Magic and the Veela colony in France."

The Minister nodded to each of them, his eyes lingering on the diminutive Jedi Master for a moment before locking, and staying, on Antoinette. After a full embarrassing minute, Nox reached out and snapped her fingers directly in front of the Minister's eyes, snapping him out of his stupor. "What– I– what's going…?"

"Don't worry Minister." Antoinette smiled knowingly as she leaned up against her husband. "Seeing a Veela, even a half-veela like myself, for the first time often causes this sort of effect amongst the non-magical communities. Not to mention the magical communities."

"You can gape at her later Minister." Nox cut in, stepping up to the holo-projector. "Have our teams reported in since I've been gone?"

"Yes ma'am." Rex nodded. "Jerusalem and the Vatican remain untouched as of this moment and the teams have pulled back. However both London and Paris are reporting serious damage. The damage is more severe in London, but in both countries their elected officials are all but wiped out."

"What about the United States?" The Prime Minister asked, stepping forward. "Before that…woman attacked us my analysts were trying to figure out the extent of the damage done."

"The United States was hit hardest of them all." Rex responded, pulling up a map of the US and highlighting certain areas. "Washington D.C. is all but destroyed. The Pentagon is gone. And Langley was hit as well. Those three attacks crippled them and they're scrambling trying to put the pieces together. Also the Wolfsbane reported that the United Nations headquarters was burning and nearly burnt to the ground whent hey reached it. However ma'am, there's something I discovered while you were away. An explanation as to why communications across the globe have suddenly become so unresponsive." Leaning over his terminal, Rex imputed a few commands and the image shifted from a map to a picture of a satellite in orbit. "I had one of your satellites do a scan. And, well it's dead in the water ma'am. I sent the few other satellites of yours off on recon runs, but so far every satellite we find, no matter the country, is completely powered down."

"Shit." Nox growled, shaking her head. "Hit the muggle and magical world hard and then disable the best means of communication the muggle world has ensuring that they can't react fast. Vitiate certainly left nothing to chance did he?"

"So, what's our next move mother?" Harry asked, stepping up beside her.

Placing both hands on the terminal before her, Nox stared at the picture in front of her as her mind began running a mile a minute trying to come up with some sort of plan. "We have no idea where they're based out of. Their 'lair' as you will, is more than likely heavily guarded through magical means. Which means that finding it is next to impossible. So unfortunately at the moment there is little more that we can do other than fight through attrition and try to counter whatever they throw at us." Standing upright, she faced Rex. "Do whatever you can to get worldwide communications going again. Our satellites were off the grid from the others so we should be able to use them. Once we have communications back up Amelia and the Minister here will make a joint speech to the public. Vitiate is trying to plunge the magical and mundane world into a civil war against one another. Hopefully with you two appearing side by side we might be able to halt that from happening. At least for a time.

"In the meantime," she continued. "I want rotating shifts. I want the Wolfsbane and all of our LAATs airborne at all times, stopping only to refuel and change out crews. We need to try keep the dementors out of civilian populations at all costs."

"There is something else Madam Nox." Antoinette spoke up. "Something that might aid this cause. The Veela nation in France, they wish asylum here at the Temple. All of them."

Nox felt her eyebrows rise at that. 'The Veela will certainly be a valuable asset…unfortunately they're going to have to wait.' "Tell the Veela that we accept." Nox said. "However they will need to wait on migrating here until Daphne is awake."

Antoinette's brow furrowed slightly. "If I may ask, why?"

"I've managed to keep the creation and location of this Temple a complete secret from everyone in the world, save for those I trust to know of it. And keeping this place a secret will be one of our greatest assets in the days to come." Nox explained. "And while I trust the Veela's desire for safety, we have to presume that anyone who wants to voluntarily come here could potentially be a Child of the Emperor. And while I could figure out if they are one, now that they are active. It would take me a long time and we would need to capture a Child first so I knew what I was looking for. Daphne however, thanks to her unique gift, has the ability to discern the true nature of a person with just a passing glance. So until she is up, no one besides those that've already been cleared to enter will be admitted."

The Prime Minister cleared his throat and everyone lookeda t him. "I know this might not be…something to ask but I felt prudent to bring up. Before the…woman who killed my people I gave the order for the Rite of Annulment to be executed. I'm only asking because once it went out, as protocil, it can't be stopped unless ¾ vote otherwise"

Nox glared at the Pri9me Minister debated with herself to tell him how that mess escalated into something much worse. 'Fuck it, let him see how great an idea that was' "The Rite did go through yes, but someone changed all the targets. Instead of going for magical locations it was all changed to world wide targets. Several in the US, Paris, Bejing, Tokyo, etc. In a word, a quarter of the world could have been wiped out."

The Prime Minister paled at the retaliation of what would have happened if that came to pass.

Nox smiled grimly, "And yes, the Rite could not be stopped, and I didn't bother trying. Instead I simply changed all the coordinates to send all the missles outside of Earth or rather to the sun. Once that was done I hit the self destruct on the second stage weapons to stop whoever was controlling the UN from using those."

* * *

Standing beside the Voice of the Emperor, Azcarin, the Emperor's Wrath, stood silent and watched as his Master's Dark Council took their seats. Although calling them a 'Dark Council' was a bit of stretch in Azcarin's mind. If any of the Dark Council could see their replacements now they would be turning over in their graves out of disgust. They barely deserved the title of Sith, let alone Darth and a position on the Dark Council.

As the last of his Master's Council took their seats the doors closed sealing the five of them in. **"Let us begin."** His Master said, taking over the control of the Voice once more. **"Blackwood. What is the status of your assault?"**

"Overall our plans are proceeding as planned Emperor." Blackwood answered respectfully. "During our initial assault we were able to remove the top level of political guidance in the United States, Russia and China. And while the non-magicals are still floundering about, the dementors continue to roam free killing at will. And our new Acolytes are making hit-and-run attacks against key strategic locations around the globe. They apparate or portkey in, cast a few Fiendfyre spells to cause as much damage as possible and then flee before anyone can find them. So far we have conducted forty-seven of these raids and have not lost a single Acolyte."

 **"Very good Darth Blackwood."** The Emperor smiled through Voldemort. **"You have by far surpassed your predecessor."**

"Thank you, my Emperor. I live only to serve." Blackwood groveled. An action which made Azcarin want to roll his eyes. 'Take his compliment in stride idiot.' Azcarin thought, staring at the large human. 'The Emperor hates ass-kissers. But still…his skill with an edge weapon and magic make him at least a level of a Sith Lord. Time will tell if he's truly deserving of his title of Darth however.'

Turning his head ever so slightly, the Emperor stared at the only woman in the room. **"Darth Nightshade. You have exceeded what I told you to accomplish by a wide margin. My Children span the globe and rejoice at their awakening. You have done well."**

"All for your benefit my Emperor." Nightshade nodded. "I did not want to run the risk of disappointing you."

 _'More like you wanted to take control of the Children yourself_.' Azcarin thought, staring at the oriental woman. _'You wanted the Children for yourself. I know it. And the Emperor knows it. It is why you created so many of them and spread them about so thoroughly. The only problem is…no one, not even I, knows how the Emperor awakens his Children. Of these three this one definitely has the cunning to be a Sith…but she lacks foresight. She thinks herself invincible because of what and who she is. A foolish mistake that has cost many a Sith.'_

 **"Mortis."** With that one word, the air temperature within the room plummeted as the withered old fool cringed slightly as the eyes of the Emperor's Voice fell upon him. **"You were given a simple assignment. Create as much chaos and death as you can. An area you excelled at. Yet…it was in this task alone that our initial attacked failed. And now Darth Blackwood has had to pick up the slack that you've created with your failure. I will admit that your 'Rite of Annulment' was ingenious. Getting the non-magicals to create and maintain their own means of destruction was a plan worthy of any Sith under my command. And it is for this reason alone that I will give you the chance to give your explanation and make amends instead of turning you into one of the Condemned. As I did with the young Lestrange boy."**

The entire time the Emperor spoke, Azcarin had been making his way silently around the table until he was standing just behind and off to the side of Mortis with his hand on his lightsaber. With signal from his Master, he stood ready to shorten the little cretin by his head. Or drag him off to be made into one of the Condemned. A fate far worse than death. And a fitting end for those who dared to defy or fail the Eternal Emperor.

Fidgeting more than slightly, Mortis sent a quick glance towards Blackwood and Nightshade, for what reason Azcarin wasn't sure. If he was looking for support, then he was looking in the wrong place. His failing when they succeeded only boosted their own value in the eyes of the Emperor. No Sith would stick their neck out, literally, now for him. "I– I believe Nox countered the Rite of Annulment Emperor."

The Emperor merely leaned back and stared coldly at Mortis. **"I warned you not to underestimate her did I not?"**

"Yes…my Emperor." Mortis nodded meekly. "She…I do not know how, but she somehow found out about the Rite of Annulment and put in safeguards that would allow her countermand the orders should they be given. Once the Rite began she…she couldn't stop it from happening so she…she changed the target coordinates without my realizing it. Then she activated the self-destruct sequences on the weapon caches that were supposed to be used for the second stage of the Rite."

Silence greeted the end of Mortis's explanation as the Emperor just sat there and silently stared at the man. Then with a deliberate slowness, the Emperor raised his hand, palm out and towards Mortis. **"I told you not to underestimate her."** He reiterated, his fingers curling in slightly. At first it looked as if nothing was happening, but then Mortis started shaking as the Emperor's fingers curled inwards, pressing on Mortis with the Force. **"But you didn't heed my words. And now our plans stand in jeopardy because you failed!"**

"P-Please…my…Emperor…" Mortis gasped as his body started to shake violently. "I-I have a-a-another…p-p-p-plan!"

The Emperor opened his hand and Mortis collapsed forward, his face pressed firmly against the surface of the table as he gasped for breath **. "Be quick Mortis. My patience with your incompetence is at its end."**

"Dragons…my Emperor." Mortis gasped.

Azcain almost blinked, but managed to hold himself steady and gave away nothing. _'Hmm…interesting. A possibility that I never thought of. And judging by the look on the Emperor's face, it's something that he hasn't necessarily consider before either. Or he has and dismissed it.'_

 **"Continue."**

Mortis gave off a sigh of relief as he righted himself in his seat, although he still kept his gaze slightly diverted from the Emperor gaze either unwilling, or unable, to meet his eyes. "I– This was my original plan my Emperor, but I discarded it in favor of the Rite due to the…potential backlash upon ourselves. But as you know there…there are several dragon reserves littered across the world my Emperor. We capture one of the reserves and place portkey's that are keyed into varying locations around the world. The jarring nature of portkey travel will unnerve the dragons, but just to make sure they behave like we want we'll…well poke the dragon beforehand as well. And once they arrive, they will start attack everything around them."

"There are a lot of variables in this plan of yours Mortis." Blackwood stated, leaning forward on his elbows. "First we will have to locate and capture a dragon reserve. No easy task as both the handlers and the dragons will put up a fight. Then you will need to tag each dragon with a portkey, which means getting close enough to do so. Plus you'd risk us aggravating the goblins, who by the Emperor's orders we are avoiding confrontation with at the moment."

Azcarin smiled as he watched Mortis start to shake out of anger. _'It appears I may have spoken too soon about Blackwood. Apparently the man does have a decent head on his shoulders.'_

"I have taken what you've pointed out into consideration already." Mortis growled. "There is a reserve that is relatively isolated and not connected with the goblins. And as for the risk to our people…well…that's what they're here for. To serve us."

 **"You will commence with this plan Mortis."** The Emperor spoke, ending the debate. **"However, you will be there with our Acolytes as they attempt this scheme of yours. Should this plan of yours fail, then you shall join the ranks of the Condemned. And should you simply leave this task to your Acolytes, then you shall join the ranks of the Condemned. This is your one and only chance to prove that you truly deserve your seat here. Do not fail me again Mortis."**

"Yes, my Emperor." Mortis breathed, the relief in voice almost thick enough to be cut.

 **"But do not think that you are forgiven for your original failure."** The Emperor continued, ending Mortis's brief reprieve. **"As you have failed me, I am removing your duties as a member of this Council. You will retain your position, and should your plan prove successful have a chance to earn new duties on the Council. But for now your tasks of Enforcement of the Sith order will be transferred to another."**

Mortis glared hatefully across the table at Blackwood and Nightshade. "I– I understand…my Emperor. Will Darth Nightshade or Darth Blackwood be taking up my duties, my Emperor?"

 **"Neither."** Raising his hand, the doors to the small chamber opened revealing a lone figure. **"Come forth."**

With her head held high, Bellatrix Lestrange marched into the small meeting hall and sunk down to one knee before them. Azcarin knew that this was coming, and he'd agreed full heartedly with his Emperor's decision on this matter. This woman was far more Sith than any other individual he'd ever met on this dark forsaken rock of a planet. She reminded him of Nox in her prime when she was cutting a bloody path through the ranks of the Sith. Powerful. Smart. Resourceful. And completely unwilling to let anything or anyone get in her way to power.

 **"Bellatrix Lestrange."** The Emperor spoke, and by the looks on the three Darths' faces, they all knew what was about to happen just as he did. **"You have proven yourself time and time again in your loyalty and skill while fighting for Lord Voldemort and the Sith Order. It is on his recommendation that I hereby grant you the title of Darth and a position on the Dark Council in charge of Enforcement within and without the Sith Order."**

"You honor me, my Emperor." Bellatrix bowed lowly before quickly rising to her feet and meeting the Emperor's glowing eyes. "I will not fail you."

 **"No. You will not."** The Emperor responded simply before snapping his fingers and creating another chair for Bellatrix. **"Take your seat Darth Bellatrix. We still have much to discuss as a whole."**

* * *

Standing before the holographic projector in the war room, Nox blankly stared down at the various reports filtering through her terminal as the before her the large hologram of Earth depicted the location of the various Guardians she'd stationed around the world.

Four days. It'd been four days and Nox honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd left this spot for longer than an hour or two to enter a meditative rest. She knew that she was approaching her limit. But she couldn't stop. There was far too much to do. The New Sith Order had planned their initial attack and follow up actions far too well for her to stop and rest.

While the Sith and their magical allies had pulled back, the dementors had not. The dark side entities were still constantly floating around the globe. It was because of those creatures that her Guardians were starting to show signs of fatigue. All of her Guardians, and even the magicals that'd joined with them, were on a constant rotating schedule flying around the world on either LAATs or the Wolfsbane trying their best to counter the dementors. The only time their ships weren't in the air was when they were forced to land in order to refuel and change out crews onboard.

But with only six ships, they were not able to stop all of the dementor attacks. Or even most of them for that matter. They weren't going after the larger cities, preferring instead to target smaller villages or towns. And because of this, more often than not by the time her Guardians even arrived the dementors were already gone and dozens were left dead. But perhaps even more disturbing was when they arrived at a small town or village and found it completely empty. It'd only happened twice so far. But in those two instances over three hundred souls had gone missing. Force only knew what the Emperor was planning on using them for. Certainly nothing that would be to their benefit given the Emperor's history.

 _'I need to get my hands on one of them.'_ Nox thought, staring at the holographic projection of Earth and the six red dots that indicated her individual teams. _'Harry was able to destroy them using a variation of the Patronus Charm. Even though he doesn't remember how he did it, the simple fact that they can be destroyed gives us hope I need to experiment on one of them to figure out what he did so we have an edge against them.'_

And while the dementors had been leaving the larger cities alone, the magicals that made up the ranks of this "New Sith Order" weren't. They'd taken to hit and run tactics; apparating into a highly populated area and casting a Fiendfyre spell before apparating out and letting the spell do their dirty work. It was crude, but effective. The people were starting to panic and several major cities around the world were starting to empty as people began running from the threat which could literally pop in and out of existence on a moment's notice. ' _I may have stopped the nukes from hitting any place on Earth but I traded them for this madness.'_

And it wasn't just the non-magical world that'd been suffering over the past few days either. The magical world was under constant siege. Much like their magical counterparts, the non-magical forces of the New Sith Order had taken up hit and run tactics when dealing with the magical world. Only they were a little more inventive about it as they couldn't apparate away. But to date three car bombis had gone off near magical centers killing dozens and injuring more. The world was hanging on the precipice of an all-out war. And the Emperor was giving it a mighty shove. Over the past few days the New Sith Order had managed to kill millions of non-magicals and thousands of magicals. And the death toll kept rising with each passing moment.

"What do you have to report General?" Nox asked without turning around. As quiet as he was, she'd sensed the man ever since he'd entered the room but hadn't bothered to acknowledge his presence until he was standing just behind her.

"Our satellites are in position ma'am." Rex responded without hesitation. She swore, the man was next to unflappable.

"Good." Nox nodded as the hologram of Earth was updated to show the locations of the few satellites she had in orbit around select locations. "Alter the flight plans of our recon teams to go around the areas we can now watch. No need to scout the same area twice."

"Already on it ma'am." Her general replied as he idly scrolled through the datapad in his hands. "I have an update on the refugees as well."

"Let's hear it." Nox nodded.

"So far Knight Greengrass has managed to sort through nearly half of the Veela colony." Rex stated. "They weren't necessarily too happy about the condition at first, but after Madam Delacour explained the situation to them they became much more amiable to the stipulation. They've been given quarters in the southeast tower at the moment as it is the only one that isn't currently in use. And many of those who've already arrived have requested to help in whatever way they can."

"Good." Nox nodded. At least there was some good news. "Start those who are willing to volunteer on a crash course of modern weapons and tactics under the eyes of Master Vos and Ventress. Also start having our men who are not deployed spend time with the Veela. We need to acclimate ourselves to their charms if they're going to be helping us. No need for our people to turn into hormonal wrecks in the middle of a battle."

"Understood ma'am." Rex nodded. "Delta squad is currently on an eight hour reprieve. I'll assign them to help the Veela get settled and inform Master Vos and Ventress of their new roles once they return from their own recon missions."

"You're a treasure Rex." Nox said sincerely, throwing the clone a quick smile over her shoulder before refocusing on the map in front of her. Just as she was about to give the general her next series of orders, a small light started flickering in the bottom right corner of her terminal. "Finally."

"What is it ma'am?" Rex asked as Nox began typing away.

"I've been trying to locate someone." Nox answered as the hologram of Earth spun slightly so that she was looking at the Pacific Ocean. "And I've finally managed to track him down."

"Who?"

"The senior most military officer I can find that is highly respected." Nox answered as the hologram before them zoomed in to show a carrier fleet cutting through the ocean. "Don't get me wrong Rex. You're irreplaceable and have been and gift from the Force ever since you arrived. But we need recognizable leaders if we're going to have any hope of preventing a full out civil war between the non-magicals and the magicals of this world. Amelia and the Prime Minister were a good start. But we need a well-respected military officer as well."

"You won't get any argument from me ma'am." Rex commented back. "I'm not used to all of this administrative stuff. I'll gladly hand the reins over to someone that you think is worth and head back out into the field. But who did you find?"

"Admiral Steven Hackett." Nox replied, pulling up the man's profile on the holo-projector. The admiral was an older man whose hair had long ago turned white. But his eyes were the eyes of an experienced soldier that demanded respect. "Highly decorated and respected around the world. He's with the Thirteenth fleet onboard the fleet's Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. He was there to test out the F1-Alpha Fighters and the F1-Beta aircrafts that the US Navy purchased from me. Lucky for him, as the inspection tour had him away from Washington when the Sith attacked."

"Any particular reasons why him ma'am?" Rex asked curiously.

"As I said, he's a carrier man. Highly decorated and respected and fought tooth and nail for every promotion." Nox explained. "Also, he's probably the highest ranking military officer left in the US at the moment that would be willing to hear us out rather than just have us shot on sight. Which team is in the Temple at the moment Rex? And what's the next ship due back?"

Rex immediately went back down to his datapad. "Your son and his Valkyries are currently on mandatory four hour rest. As is Master Kenobi. And the next ship back will be the Wolfsbane. They're due back in three hours."

Rocking back on her heel, Nox rubbed at her chin. "Inform my son and his Valkyries, even Daphne andher apprentice, that I want all of them prepped and ready to leave as soon as the Wolfsbane lands as well as Master Kenobi. And Rex, you'll be going with them as well to try and talk this admiral onto our side."

"Ma'am?"

"You're military Rex." Nox answered simply, turning around and facing the clone. "You know how to speak his language. And while technically speaking you might be used to my son outranking you. This admiral will not see it that way. In fact, he would probably laugh outright at him. Kenobi will probably command more respect, but again I feel that you will be able to reach this admiral far better than anyone else."

Rex stared at her for a moment before nodding. "Very well ma'am. I'll send out the notice for your son and Master Kenobi as well as the squad on rest to be ready to leave the moment the Wolfsbane arrives back at the Temple-"

Rex was cut short as the door to the war room slid open and a clearly out of breath Arthur Weasley ran in. "Madam – Nox." Arthur said breathlessly as he bent over trying to catch his breath. "I– Burrow…"

"Take a breath Arthur." Nox said calmly, staring at the Weasley patriarch. "Now, what about your home?"

After taking several deep breaths, Arthur righted himself and met her eyes. "Madam…the wards around the Burrow are still mostly intact. And– and I just felt some breach them."

Nox frowned at this. "The Death Eaters? Is there anything of value that they might take from your home?"

"It wasn't the Death Eaters ma'am." Arthur breathed. "The wards weren't brought down. Someone got through them. There's only nin– eight– people in the world who could slip through the wards like this. And seven of them are here in the Temple."

Nox put the dots together quickly. "Your son, Charlie I believe his name is?" Nox asked, to which Arthur nodded. "Have you been in contact with him?"

"No, we haven't." Arthur said, shaking his head. "Not since we were forced to abandon our home. But ma'am, there's something else. I– the wards have told me that he's hurt. Bad. I need to go to him. Please."

Nox frowned in thought for a moment before reaching into her robes and pulling out a small sphere. "This is a portkey that will bring you back to Britain. From there you will be able to apparate back to your home and check on your son. Make sure that you check him over for any tracking charms before you even think of bringing him back. And as soon as you do I want Daphne there to check him over as well understand?"

"Yes ma'am." Arthur breathed, clearly relieved as he took the portkey from her. "Thank you…thank you so much."

Just as Arthur was near the door Nox called out, "Oh and Arthur?"

Arthur paused and turned to look at Nox, "Yes?"

Nox looked at Arthur seriously, "If Bill is fully recovered it might be a good idea to take him with you. Best not to head out there alone." Arthur nodded then quickly left to find his eldest son.

* * *

Walking through the corridors of the great Temple, Narcissa Malfoy, or rather Narcissa Black thanks to her cousin, stared in wonder at the vast structure surrounding her. This Temple was beyond anything she'd ever seen before. Including Hogwarts and the Malfoy manor. Magic was woven into almost inch of the Temple. Even more so than at Hogwarts. It was…beautiful. But as beautiful and serene as this place was…Narcissa felt more out of place here than ever before in her entire life.

Even though she'd only been awake and out of the hospital room for only a day or two, everyone here knew who she was. Even if they knew what she'd done, what she sacrificed, it didn't matter. Despite the fact that her cousin had stricken the name Malfoy from her with a flick of his quill, the stain of that wretched name followed her sill. She could see it in the eyes of some of the werewolves here that knew of her ex-husband's reputation. The look in the eyes of the Veela who still remember the reason why the Malfoy's were driven out of France in the first place.

Even the magical families that she'd run into; the Davies', the Weasley's, and the Bones' had given her a mild birth whenever they were in the same hall together. The only ones who didn't seem to mind her presence were the few of the so-called 'Guardian Masters' that were currently in the Temple. Granted the only one she'd run into so far was one Mallie Marek in the library, which had made her jaw nearly unhinge at its sheer size and scope.

Finally reaching her destination, she took a deep breath before reaching out to lay a hand on the smooth door, only to have it open before she could even touch it. _'Morgana_.' Narcissa sighed, shaking her head as she walked into the room without really looking. _'That is going to…take…some…oh my…'_

The room inside was…not what she expected. Instead of facing more magically infused metallic constructs she was met with a…forest. An actual honest to magic woodlands with a twenty foot tall waterfall in the middle of the room right in the middle of a man-made metal pyramid. But even that wasn't what made her stop in her tracks. No…what truly made her stop was when she found the reason why she'd even left the hospital wing that morning.

For sitting underneath the waterfall, his eyes closed and his body relaxed despite the water constantly falling upon him, was the man who'd saved her life.

Her body refused to move even as she couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight before her. 'I– I shouldn't be here.' She thought after managing to regain her wits about her. She knew enough about meditation, even though it wasn't widely practiced in the magical world as it'd once been, that it took a long time to reach a deep state of meditation. And by the looks of things…the man who saved her life was in a very deep state of meditation.

"You don't have to leave." A calm voice called out to her as was making her way back out of the room.

Narcissa nearly jumped. Forcing her attention back on the man beneath the waterfall, she found that his eyes were still closed as the water continued to rush over him. Taking a few steps forward, Narcissa reminded herself of just who she was. 'You are a Black. You are not some simpleton to go running and blushing at a handsome face and kind smile.' "I didn't want to disturb you."

"You're not, my Lady Black." Obi-Wan said, his eyes opening as he removed himself from beneath the waterfall and made for a small pile of items near the edge of the pool. Grabbing his wand, Obi-Wan cast a quick drying spell over himself after stepping out of the water. "Is there something that I can help you with Lady Black?"

Now that she was standing before him, Narcissa found herself in a state that she hadn't been in in years. She was speechless. "I– I " She floundered for a moment before composing herself. "I wanted to find you and thank you for your assistance Master Kenobi. I shudder to think of what would've happened to me had those brutes brought me back to the Dark Lord and his Emperor."

Obi-Wan's face didn't even twitch. It was as if the man was made of stone. "There is no need to thank me Lady Black, I merely did what anyone else would've."

"You'd be surprised at just how false that statement is." Narcissa sighed, shaking her head. "And please, stop with this whole 'Lady Black' thing. I have a name. It's Narcissa. Use it."

The corners of Kenobi's lips twitched upwards ever so slightly. "If you insist Narcissa. But if that is the case I must ask you to call me Obi-Wan."

Narcissa felt her own lips twitching upwards into the slightest of grins. The first one she'd had in a long time. "Thank you, Obi-Wan."

The two stared at one another for some time, each moment seeming to last an eternity to her. 'Okay…you said thank you…now what? Are you just going to stand there like an awe-struck fool Narcissa?' "If you don't mind my asking Master Ken– Obi-Wan. What were you meditating about? I've heard of several magical practices that use meditation to boost their power or to receive clairvoyance. It always sounded interesting but I– I never got the chance to try it."

Obi-Wan's head tilted ever so slightly. "Meditation is an essential aspect of being a Jedi. Or rather I should say a Guardian now. It can bring clairvoyance and great understanding, even glimpses of the future at times. But mostly, I meditate to give myself some peace. And after the events of the last few days…I needed a moment of peace."

"I can understand that." Narcissa sighed, as everything that'd happened to her over the last few months rushed through her mind. The Dark Lord coming back. Finding out there was someone even worse than him now leading the Dark faction. Watching her son murder someone whose only crime was existing…yes. She could very understand Obi-Wan's need for a moment of peace.

Obi-Wan gave her a strange look for a moment before taking a step back from her. "Come, sit with me."

Blinking, Narcissa hesitated for just a moment before following Obi-Wan to the edge of the pool before crossing her legs and sitting down on the soft ground in front of him. "Close your eyes." He instructed her. "Relax your body. Start with your feet and move up. Relaxing each muscle as you go. Clear your mind. Listen to the water. The slight breeze. The rustling of the trees. Calm your mind."

Taking a deep breath, Narcissa tried her best to follow his instructions. She cleared her mind. She relaxed her body. And she tried to concentrate on the sounds of the artificial forest surrounding them. But peace eluded her. No matter how hard she tried, she just could not get her son out of her mind.

"You're unbalanced." Obi-Wan said suddenly, shocking her enough so that she opened her eyes only to find him staring at her. "Your thoughts…they dwell on your son."

Narcissa's eyes widened as she immediately began going over her mental barriers. 'They're…they're fine. No intrusions…but then how did he know?'

"You're mental barriers are fine." Obi-Wan said, shocking her further. 'How does he know that?' "In fact they are quite strong. But your emotions and your thoughts on your son. They are causing you such pain. To many of us who followed Nox here, it will be as if you're screaming your thoughts at us. You need to try and let go of this burden Narcissa. What your son did was not you're doing. Blaming yourself will do you no good and in the end will only hurt you further. Trust me on this."

"And what could possibly know about it?" Narcissa snapped, rising quickly to her feet and glaring down at the Guardian Master. "You don't have children do you? Then how could possibly know how I'm feeling at the moment?!"

A brief pain of sadness crossed his eyes so vividly that Narcissa almost took a step back. "I know more than you might think Narcissa." Obi-Wan said sorrowfully as he rose to his feet and held out his hand to her. "I would like to show you something…if you'd be willing."

Eyeing his hand, Narcissa hesitated for only a moment before reaching out and taking it. Her body was suddenly squeezed and stretch as Obi-Wan apparated the two of them. When the spinning finally stopped, Narcissa found herself staring into a large room through a glass window. Molly Weasley was inside the room, but it was the two little figures crawling on the floor and laughing at one another that drew her attention. The two boys couldn't be older than two or three at most. She smiled as she watched the two boys play with one another, but then something strange happened. One boy reached out his hand…and a small stuffed dragon slid out from a pile of toys and into the boy's outstretched hand.

'Accidental magic.' Narcissa mused, impressed beyond measure. 'But it was…controlled. Amazing. He's so young…he shouldn't have that level of control yet.'

"The little one there, the one that is pouting because Galen summoned the dragon." Obi-Wan said suddenly, pointing towards the smaller of the two boys. "His name is Luke."

She couldn't help the way his voice lightened and the way he smiled ever so slightly as he said the child's name. "Is he…yours?" She asked tentatively.

"No." Obi-Wan answer immediately. "No, he's the son of two people that I knew and loved. Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala. Padme was a Senator and an outspoken advocate for peace. And Anakin…he was my Padawan. My Apprentice if you will. I began training him ever since he was a young boy. He was my friend. My brother. The son that I never had all rolled into one."

The way he said their names with such sadness, there was little doubt in her mind about what had happened to them and how he came to be in custody of little Luke. But still, she had to ask. "I'm sorry. How did they die?"

Obi-Wan nodded slowly. "You've…you've heard of how I and the other Guardian Masters came upon Nox have you not?"

Narcissa nodded. That had been a bloody shock when she'd first heard it a day after she'd woke up. To learn that most of the people that you were allied with were from another world…it boggled the mind. "I heard that there was a war where you were from. That you and your order were betrayed."

"Yes." Obi-Wan answered, smiling as Luke managed to windlessly summon the dragon that the other boy had grown tired of to him. "This Emperor that we face. He is a Sith. Much the same as the ones who destroyed the Jedi Order. There were only two Sith, a Master and his Apprentice. The Master manipulated the Galactic Senate and slowly destroyed the reputation of the Jedi. And his Apprentice…his apprentice marched into the Jedi Temple and killed everyone. Even the younglings."

"Morgana." Narcissa breathed. "I take it that this Apprentice you spoke of, they are the one that killed Luke's parents?"

At this Obi-Wan froze. "In a manner of speaking." He said almost so quietly she didn't catch it. "The Apprentice was…seduced by the Emperor to turn to the dark side. No one expected him. He was one of our best. And yet…still he strode through the entrance of the Jedi Temple with a legion of men at arms and started killing any who stood in his way."

A dreadful suspicion began to form in her gut. 'He said that he knew what I was feeling in regards to Draco.' "It was Anakin, wasn't it?" She asked as the dots connected in her mind. "He's the one who betrayed your Jedi Order. Isn't he?"

Obi-Wan nodded sadly. "Yes. I didn't want to believe it. I didn't believe it. Until Master Yoda and myself infiltrated what was left of the Jedi Temple while the Emperor was making a grand speech declaring an end to the Republic and naming himself Emperor of the galaxy. While we were there…I found a holo recording of Anakin. Only he was…he was no longer the boy that I knew. The boy that I loved. He was gone. Consumed by Darth Vader. Then later when I confronted him with his wife…he thought that I'd turned her against him and he…he choked nearly to death. I defeated him…but I couldn't kill him. So I left him for dead and took his wife away to seek medical attention. But she…she simply lost the will to live. She lived long enough to give birth and name their children. Then with her last breath she turned to me and whispered that there was still good in her husband."

Narcissa for one of the first times in her life found herself nearly at a loss for words. "Does…does it get any easier?"

Obi-Wan frowned as the two of them watched the little boys play with one another. "I'll let you know. For months I woke up every day blaming myself for what'd happened. I still do. But then I realized that I was doing myself no good by wallowing in self-pity. So, I decided that even though I can't kill him, even despite all that he's done, I will do everything in my power to raise his son right and stop him."

'He's right.' Narcissa thought, turning her attention away from Obi-Wan and back to the little children. 'Draco made his choice. I did everything I could to try to prevent it…but in the end the choice was still his. I can't keep blaming myself for his falling. The only thing I can do is try my hardest to prevent him from causing any more harm than he already has. Just like Obi-Wan is.'

* * *

Feeling his feet impact the soft ground, Arthur Weasley immediately raised his wand and quickly glanced around the area. To his utmost shock, everything was still intact. In fact if he didn't know any better, he would've denied an attack ever befalling the Burrow.

"Everything…is still standing." Bill said, clearly just as shocked as he was at finding their home still intact.

Holding tightly onto his wand, Arthur walked side by side with his eldest son as the two of them slowly approached the back entrance to the Burrow. Opening the back door, the two marveled at what awaited them. "I guess they really did give up the moment we all buggered off." Bill commented as the two stared at the completely intact and spotless kitchen.

"Not entirely." Arthur commented softly as his eyes fell to the floor, where a thin trail of blood made a path from the back entrance and into the main living area on the ground floor.

With a slight nod to his son, Arthur slowly started walking into the house. Taking care to avoid the loose floorboards that he knew would give away their location in a heartbeat. He may not be a trained warrior like his two youngest children, but no one knew the Burrow better than him.

Making their way through the small kitchen, Arthur and Bill both pressed their shoulders up against the wall on either side of the door frame leading into the living room. With a quick nod to his eldest son, Arthur and Bill both rounded the door frame and entered the room with wands held high. And both stopped dead in their tracks. Sitting on the couch facing them, his wand held limply in his right hand while his left was pressed over his gut was Arthur's second son. The front of his clothes were covered in blood and he had a long gash running down length of the left side of his face.

"Charlie!" Arthur yelled, lowering his wand and rushing into the room.

"Father?" Charlie called out weakly.

"I'm here son." Arthur replied, taking his son's hand in his own as Charlie's head turned towards him.

"Bloody fucking hell Charlie." Bill breathed, running his wand over the length of his brother before reaching into his coat and pulling out a bottle containing essence of dittany.

"D– dragons." Charlie gasped as Bill, with Arthur's help, tore open the front of Charlie's shirt and began applying the dittany to the plethora of crisscrossing gashes that were marring his front.

"Now's really not the time to worry about the dragons son." Arthur sighed as he watched the wounds on his son's chest slowly close. His second son really did have a one track mind.

"No," Charlie gasped as a particularly large cut healed itself. "Listen. The dragons…they've been…taken."

That pulled both Arthur and Bill up short. "What do you mean Charlie?" Bill asked slowly. "How can someone 'take' the dragons on the reserve?"

"Don't know…who they are." Charlie said, his breath steadying out slightly but still fairly ragged. "But…their leader. He…he was small, old. He looked…like that Crypt Keeper guy from the muggle show you and I watched a few years ago Bill. He and others…wearing skull masks. They…they came to the reserve. Killed everyone they could. And…and started corralling the dragons."

Bill's hands froze mid action as he stared up at his brother in horror. "Bill?" Arthur asked slowly. "Who's he talking about? Do you know this man?"

"I don't know him." Bill answered, "But I've heard of someone matching that description. Master Kenobi described him in great detail. Darth Mortis. One of the Emperor's Dark Council members. And one of the leaders of the New Sith Order."


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey everyone! I'm back! Sorry about the month delay in this chapter, ran into a serious case of writers block (despite having an outline) not to mention some real life problems…and yeah. Delayed. If I didn't get to your review questions from last time I deeply apologize as, once again I've been incredibly busy and have had other things on my mind.**

 **That said, thank you everyone who reviewed, favorited or added this story to your favorites! Thank you all so much. Your continued support means a lot to me and pushes me to continue writing. And again, please review if you feel so inclined. I love reading what you guys think. And feel free to ask any questions.  
**

 **Lastly, a big thank you to my pair of betas, HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon!**

 **Chapter 22**

The level of noise within the halls of the British Wizenagmot were nearing the point of being unbearable. Almost all of the members were on their feet yelling over one another trying to get their point, whatever it might've been, across to the others. _'They're afraid_.' Dumbledore sighed as he discreetly let his wand slide out of his right sleeve. _'And rightfully so. Muggles have attacked the very heart of the magical governments by razing the ICW Headquarters to the ground. And then they also raided the British Ministry here, killing poor Cornelius and at least a dozen others.'_

Finally tiring of the yelling, Dumbledore raised out his wand and let lose a cannon blast charm. "Everyone be silent!" He shouted as the various members of the Wizengamot slowly quieted down. "This yelling solves nothing."

"And what exactly is there to solve Chief Warlock?" Lucius Malfoy asked, rising to his feet. "The muggles have shown their true colors and attacked us! Hundreds of magicals across the world are dead with more joining them every day. How many of us need to die before the true threat the muggles present is actually realized? We must take action! To preserve our culture. Our future. Our children's future! We mustn't allow the muggles to destroy everything that we've worked so hard to create!"

"And what do you purpose we do then Lucius?" Augusta Longbottom snorted as she rose to her feet. "Attack the muggles? They outnumber us over a thousand to one! And I know that it's difficult for you to see, with your head being shoved so far up your own arse, but we are not the only ones under attack. If any of you had actually bothered to pay attention to what is happening in the greater world, you would know that the muggles are also under attack as well."

"How dare you –" Lucius shouted while shooting up to his feet as his wand snapped down into his right hand.

But as quick as he was, Augusta was quicker. Before Lucius could even frim up his grip on his own wand, Augusta had hers out and pointed right at the Malfoy patriarch. "Don't even try it Lucius."

 _'Ah, Augusta…still as fast a draw as ever I see.'_ Dumbledore sighed before speaking out. "Please; Lord Malfoy, Lady Longbottom. Put your wands away and take your seats once more. We will not solve this crisis by fighting amongst ourselves."

Neither looked like they were inclined to follow his order as they held each other's gaze. "Fine." Augusta spat, pointing her wand upwards before tucking it back into her sleeve. "But if that Death Eater so much as opens his mouth again I will close it permanently."

"Preposterous!" Dolores Umbridge shouted from her place just off to the side of Dumbledore. After the assassination of Fudge, Umbridge had stepped into the role of interim Minister, as was her right as Undersecretary, until a new Minister could be selected. "Lord Malfoy is an upstanding member of our society! Making such a claim without evidence is grounds for imprisonment!"

Augusta merely snorted. "Says the woman who was conveniently out of the office when Fudge was assassinated. Tell me Dolores…was Fudges body even cold before your sweaty hands were grabbing for his desk? Perhaps we should be checking your arm for the Dark Mark as well hmm?"

Dumbledore nearly groaned aloud as Dolores rose to her feet, as did those who supported her within the Wizengamot, and once again they were back at square one. _'I swear…_ ' Dumbledore sighed as he pulled out his wand once again. ' _It's like watching a group of first years fight with one another.'_ Setting yet another cannon blast charm, he waited until everyone was once again in their seats before speaking.

"We cannot afford to be divided on this matter." Dumbledore spoke lowly, letting his innate magic seep into his voice. A little trick he learned from his old friend what seemed like a lifetime ago. "If we want to survive…whatever is going on we must stand together. But we must also not make rash actions." He said, pointedly looking towards Malfoy and those that aligned themselves with the darker aspects of their society.

"So you advise inaction Dumbledore…how incredibly predictable of you."

Dumbledore felt his blood run cold as every head turned to the easily recognizable voice that'd come from the rear of the Wizenagmot. "Madam Bones." Dumbledore said, forcing himself to smile slightly even as his mind began running frantically. "I'm heartened to see you once again."

If Madam Bones felt the same, or even anything for that matter, she hid it well. Her face was a complete mask. And not only was her face, but he couldn't even feel the slightest bit of emotion coming off of her either. _'Has her occulmency truly advanced so far?'_ He thought as Amelia walked with her head held high between the rows of the Wizenagmot. _'She was always talented in the defense of her mind. But now...now she is at a whole new level on par with Nox and Harry. Which…also explains where she's been hiding ever since the attack on the Bones Estate.'_

As she made her way through the members, she paused only once. Turning her head ever so slightly, everyone in the hall watched as she met the eyes of Lucius Malfoy. "Your wife sends her regards Lucius." Amelia said with a smile plastered across her face as she reached into the folds of her robes. "Oh, and this is for you. On the grounds of violating your marriage oaths, Lord Black has deemed fit to consider your marriage null and void. He expects her dowry to paid back in full within three days' time Lord Malfoy. Or he fears he will be forced to ask the goblins to take the dowry forcibly from you."

Lucius's eyes widened to near comical proportions as more than one member of the Wizengamot began chuckling behind their hands at the humiliation that'd just been delivered upon Lucius _. 'But that will not do_.' Dumbledore sighed as he picked up his gavel instead of his wand and tapped it against his bench top. ' _We cannot afford to antagonize the dark families. Not now with the prospect of war on our doorstep.'_

"Madam Bones," Dumbledore called out hesitantly. "I'm sure that such a private matter should best be discussed quietly between Lord Malfoy and Lord Bl-"

"There is nothing to discuss." Amelia cut across sharply. "Narcissa wants nothing to do with this sorry piece of shite. Especially not after he was so willing to let his Master torture and kill her." This caused no shortage of whispers within the hall as Lucius's face turned a remarkably pale color. "Tell me, how mad was old Voldemort when your wife escaped torture and death? Or do you have your nose firmly planted up Emperor Vitiate's arse now instead of Voldemorts?"

Whatever peace had been in the hall had shattered upon those two names. Or rather one name as most probably did not know just who or what this Emperor was. But Dumbledore knew. Even as many of the members of the Wizengamot rose up in fright and anger, Dumbledore remained firmly seated, his mind whirling. _'She knows of the Dark Emperor. How? Such a closely guarded secret of the dark families that only the darkest of the dark lords even knew of his existence. And I only chanced upon such a revelation when my old friend told me. How…how could Amelia know of him? And know his name no less. Nox…it has to be Nox. But then…how dose Nox know the identity of the Emperor? Could she be in league with him?'_

"I won't take your insinuations any longer Madam Bones!" Lord Parkinson shouted, rising to his feet and pulling out his wand. "Least of all from a known member of a terrorist organization!"

Dumbledore made to pull out his wand, but as quick as he was Madam Bones was far quicker. In a flash she raised her hand and Lord Parkinson lurched forward slightly as his wand was forcibly pulled from his grasp and into the waiting hand of Madam Bones. For several long moments the entire hall stared dumbfounded. It wasn't that Madam Bones had disarmed Lord Parkinson so easily, she was named as the Head of the DMLE after all. No, what had everyone so shocked was that Madam Bones had disarmed Lord Parkinson and taken his wand...without using a wand in her hand.

 _'Wandless magic._ ' Dumbledore mused, clearly impressed by his former student. _'And done so effortless…simply amazing. No doubt Nox has taught her more than a few tricks. I need to get Amelia back on my side. Now more than ever. Not only for what she knows, but for her own safety as well.'_

"I wouldn't be so quick to throw around accusations like that, Lord Parkinson." Amelia drawled, rolling Parkinson's wand through her fingers. "After all, you are a pardoned Death Eater. A Death Eater who's rejoined their ranks now that his Master has returned."

"Madam Bones, please." Dumbledore nearly pleaded. The magical community couldn't afford to be at each other's throats. Now more than ever.' "We of the Wizengamot are here to peacefully discuss amongst our esteemed community just what-"

"Hem hem."

Dumbledore nearly groaned as every eye in the hall turned towards the squat woman sitting next to him. "Our esteemed Chief Warlock has spoken the truth of the matter." Dolores said with a smile plastered across her face. "This is a discussion for the Wizengamot. And as a known member of a terrorist organization you are hereby barred from-"

"The Guardians are not the terrorists here Dolores." Amelia snapped. "Unlike most, the Guardians are actually doing what they can to prevent-"

"So you admit that you are a member of these so-called Guardians then?" Dolores pressed, her eyes alight with glee. "The same order that Harry Potter, a young man wanted for the murder of a fellow student and kidnapping of several others, is associated with?"

Amelia pursed her lips. "Harry Potter is a member of the Guardians it is true. However I-"

"Then as a Lady of the law and a member of this esteemed committee, you hereby have the obligation to either reveal where the Potter Heir is hiding, or bring him in to face the justice of the courts." Dolores finished with a wide smile plastered across her face.

Dumbledore remained silent as he watched Amelia glare at Dolores. In truth, he wasn't necessarily against Dolores ploy here. It had a chance of getting young Harry away from Nox. And the sooner that happened the sooner he could start helping the boy towards his destiny. Provided he could keep him out of the Ministry's clutches of course.

"As I was about to say Dolores." Amelia said with an eerie calm that sent a slight shiver up Dumbledore's old spine. "I have reviewed the memories of young Mr. Potter and those who left with him the night they were forced, yes forced not fled, from Hogwarts. In the memory it clearly shows that the young man that died was in fact about to cast the Killing Curse on Mr. Potter. As a Lady of the Law and Head of the DMLE, as you so kindly reminded me Dolores, I can say with utmost certainty that Mr. Potter was well within his rights to respond to such a threat upon his life with deadly force. So no, I will not be handing over Harry Potter for trial as, under my authority, I have not seen probable cause to place him under arrest."

Dumbledore would've actually applauded the young woman for how effectively she put Dolores in her place if it wasn't for the fact that she'd once again denied him the chance bring Harry over to the light. "If that is your decision Madam Bones we will respect it for the time being," Dumbledore said soothingly before Dolores could interject again. "But young Mr. Potter will be expected to present himself sooner rather than later to explain his actions regarding the night in question. But that is a topic for another time. Right now we must decide what is to be done regarding the recent attacks-"

"It's obvious what should be done!" A voice shouted from near the back of the room. "War! The muggles want war, then I say we give it to them!"

"And I'll repeat my earlier statement you brain-dead lummox!" Augusta Longbottom shouted back. "Going to war against the muggles is suicide! If you pulled your head out of your own arse for longer than five seconds you would realize that!"

"Silence!" Dumbledore shouted, his anger slipping through into his voice. "Madam Bones, please. You are a new voice to this argument. Perhaps you could offer a suggestion as to what is to be done."

Nodding, Amelia turned slowly in place so she could view the entirety of the Wizengamot. "Whether you all choose to accept it or not, the truth of the matter is that both the magical world and the mundane world are under attack from the same entity. An entity that wants to spark a war between the two societies. And they have nearly succeeded. We cannot attack the muggle world. To do so would be suicide as Madam Longbottom has stated. They have weapons and technology far beyond what any of you could possibly believe. But we can't just sit back and do nothing." She bit out as she ceased and sent a glare his way. "We have to fight back. With the non-magicals, against our common enemy."

The entire hall was cast in silence as Amelia finished her speech. For all of five seconds that was before what she'd suggested finally sunk in. "You cannot be serious!" Lucius shouted, rising to his feet. "Are you suggesting that we break the Statute of Secrecy and offer a hand of friendship to those beneath us! The same ones who hunted our ancestors with the intent to torture execute them? The same muggles that are currently killing us?"

"For starters Lucius, the Statute of Secrecy is a moot point considering how the President of the United States was assassinated on live television with magic." Amelia countered. "And for the rest, yes I am."

"Preposterous!"

"Outrageous!"

"Mudblood-whore!"

Several voices shouted out on top of each other.

Raising his wand, Dumbledore let loose another cannon-blast to quiet the voices. "Witches and wizards, this bickering is pointless. We have three options that have been laid before us today in response to the attacks on our world. First, we can offer a hand of friendship to the muggles. Second, we can go to war against the muggles. Or third, we can secure our barriers and weather this attack as we have done in the past. Each option have positive and negative aspects and I feel as if we could discuss them for days without resolving anything. Therefore, I hereby suggest that we put it to a vote as to what we are to do. Offer and alliance. War. Or peace."

"I second the vote." Augusta said quickly.

"Thank you Madam Longbottom." Dumbledore nodded sagely. "Madam Bones, as you are still a member of this Wizengamot you are allowed to cast a vote as well if you-"

"I will be casting five votes." Amelia said calmly as she pulled out three scrolls out of her robes and presented them to him. "One for myself. One for the Black Family. One for Madam Nox. One for the Potter Family. And one for the Greengrass Family."

Dumbledore just barely managed to keep himself from cringing as he read over each scroll, each of which gave Madam Bones the authority to vote in the name of the Houses that she'd listed. "Very well," he nodded. "Then we begin the vote. Those who wish to make an alliance with the muggles cast your vote."

Predictably enough, Amelia's wand was raised as were a few other wands although they were very few and far between. What truly surprised him though was Madam Longbottom, who raised her wand almost as soon as Amelia's had went up into the air. "Thank you," he nodded as he kept count of the votes. "Those who wish for war, cast your vote now."

Far more wands rose up into the air this time around, but given the fact that Amelia had voted for five houses the count was close. "Thank you," he said before taking a breath. "Now those who wish for peace and to weather this storm, vote now."

As he finished his count, he actually let a true smile slip through. "By a majority vote on the issue, Magical Britain shall remain neutral in this conflict and shore up our defenses and stay behind the Statute of Secrecy which has safeguarded us for hundreds of years."

Amelia and several others within the hall glared up at him, but for the most part the majority seemed pleased. 'They will see that this is for the best.' Dumbledore nodded to himself as he tried to ignore the look that Amelia was sending his way. 'They have too.'

"The decision has been made." Lucius spoke up suddenly as he rose to his feet. "And while this is perhaps the best outcome that we could hope for," that made Dumbledore blink. Was Malfoy turning his back on the Dark Lord? "We must realize that there is still a possibility of someone, particularly the muggleborns, leaking our secrets to the muggles. We must ensure that they not do so."

"And what, in your infinite wisdom, do you suggest we do Lucius?" Amelia asked scathingly.

Lucius turned his head towards Amelia, but managed to keep any emotion from showing outside of a slight twitch of annoyance. "I suggest that we make year round schooling mandatory for all muggleborns." Lucius replied. "That way we protect the potential future of our world by keeping new blood safe. And we can prevent the muggles from finding out more about our world than they already know."

Whispers echoed around the hall as the assembly talked amongst themselves, whether in outrage or pleasant surprise he wasn't sure. But for himself, Dumbledore was actually pleased with the suggestion. 'It will protect the future of our society. And it will give us the chance to properly educate the children on the society that they are entering into as well.'

"You cannot be serious." Amelia said scathenly as she glared at Lucius. "You want to take children away from their parents, parents whom they haven't seen in months? And what if they don't want to return? What then?"

Lucius didn't miss a beat. "If they refuse to return then we will make it clear that their wands will be snapped, their magic bound and their memories our world will be stripped from them. If we are truly committed to isolating ourselves and weathering out this storm as our Chief Warlock stated, then we must take this action. For their benefit and for our own protection."

"Let us put it to a vote." Dumbledore said quickly. He was all in favor of this idea, despite its origins. It would allow him to protect the children from those who would see to use them for nefarious means. "All those in favor of the proposal set forth by Lord Malfoy please raise your wands."

Dumbledore didn't bother to hide how pleased he was when he saw the number of wands that were raised in the air. Amelia's was noticeably absent, but it mattered little. They had more than enough to pass the proposal. "Those against?" Only a few wands were raised, leaving a clear indication about the outcome. "Then the matter is settled. Letters will be sent out to all muggleborn school age children informing them of the mandated yearly schooling. This session of the Wizengamot is hereby called to an end."

* * *

Laying low against the handle of her broom, Nox urged the magical object to go faster as she sliced through the air. The news that Arthur and Bill had brought back with them, along with the last of the Weasley clan, was definitely not welcome news. The Sith, under the command of Mortis, had managed to take over an entire dragon reserve. And while Nox wasn't entirely certain as to just what they were planning, she had a good idea. Unleashing dragons on the general population would definitely go a long way towards spreading chaos and death.

Unfortunately, the news hadn't reached her until just after she'd dispatched her son and Master Kenobi off on their own mission on board the _Wolfsbane_. She was tempted to send one of the teams that were already airborne to the dragon reserve, however she nixed that idea quickly. If Mortis actually succeeded in unleashing the dragons in major population centers, she needed those airborne teams to react swiftly in order to try and stop the dragons before they caused too much damage.

So with no other ships or soldiers available, Nox was forced to create a portkey that would drop herself, Tonks, Masters Marek and the tired Alpha squad a few miles away from the reserve. After that, they were forced to approach the old fashioned way. On brooms.

Feeling a wave of pure Force energy wash over her, Nox tightened her grip on her broom even tighter and angled herself down towards the ground. _'That was the barrier that separated the reserve from the rest of the mundane world._ ' She thought as she sped up even faster, leaving those that were following her well behind as they'd planned. _'Let's just hope that we're not too late.'_

* * *

Watching as the witches and wizards under his command carefully moved about the dragon reserve, Darth Mortis tried, and failed, to resist the urge to start tapping his foot out of impatience. _'This is taking far too long_.' He thought as he watched five of his men work together to subdue a Welsh Green before they began taking careful measurements of the creature and applying those measurement to a portkey.

While this plan certainly had the capability of providing wide spread destruction across the globe, it wasn't an easy task which was why he'd abandoned it in the first place in favor for the Rite of Annulment. The principal problem being that the core magical algorithm that made up a portkey was simply not designed to handle a creature with the mass of a dragon. Sure there were portkeys here at the reserve that could handle it. But the damn dragon handlers had gone and destroyed them all before Mortis and his followers could kill them.

So now, Mortis and the men and women he'd been given command of were forced to calibrate each portkey one at a time after taking into account each dragon's inherent mass. Which of course then led to the second fault in the plan. Actually getting close enough to get a proper measurement of the dragon and then tagging the beast with the portkey. He'd already lost three of his men to dragon's fire. And he'd personally killed another two after they flat out refused to get close enough to a dragon in order to accurately magically measure it.

Hearing another ear piercing roar, Mortis turned his head just in time to watch as another of his men were engulfed in fire. _'Damn it._ ' He cursed as he watched the few witches and wizards he had left back away wearily from the Hungarian Horntail that'd just roasted their comrade.

If it were any other situation, he'd simply apparate over and start killing them until they feared him more than the dragon and got back to work. Each death would slow the process down. And considering the fact that not all of the dragon handlers were accounted for, he had to assume that at least one got away and was currently trying to rally support to take the reserve back. Which meant that they were on a very delicate timetable.

Apparating so that he was standing just in front of the Hungarian Horntail, Mortis waited until the dragon reared its head back before throwing a powerful cutting curse into the dragon's open mouth. The back of the beast's head exploded in a shower of bone and gore before the dragon collapsed lifelessly to the ground. Without missing a beat, he then turned towards a second Hungarian Horntail and hit the creature right in the eyes with a conjunctivitis curse before conjuring steal ropes to hold the dragon in place.

"What are you all looking at?" Mortis shouted, rounding on his men who were all staring at him with a mixture of awe and fear. "Get your asses back to work! Or you'll be next!"

The magicals under his command scrambled to get away from him and resumed their individual tasks. Scoffing at just how easily it was to intimate them, Mortis strolled up to the dragon he'd just downed. "Such an impressive beast." He commented, as he approached, the dragon's yellow eyes following his every step while puffs of smoke billowed out from between his forcing clenched teeth.

Holding out his hand, Mortis ran a diagnostic charm over the dragon. "Hmm…you're certainly a large beast aren't you?" He thought as he pulled out a coin and began the tedious task of transforming it into a portkey while taking the beast's size into careful consideration.

After nearly twenty full minutes spent in careful concentration, Mortis banished the coin towards the dragon with enough force so that it became imbedded within the dragon's thick scales. 'One down.' He thought, turning on his heel and marching away from the dragon while looking for his next target.

Normally, he wouldn't even consider getting his hands dirty with a tedious and potentially dangerous task like this. That was what minions were for after all. But considering it was his life that was on the line, he could set aside his pride for the time being. As he was making his way towards a smaller Welsh Green, his steps slowed before halting altogether. Someone had just bypassed the proximity wards that he'd laid along the outer wards of the reserve.

It wasn't that the wards that were breached that made him stop however. He knew that it was only a matter of time before someone came to try and stop what they were doing. No. It was rather who had just passed through the wards that made him halt and caused him to start sweating. ' _How…how could Nox be here? How did she…did one of the handlers go to her? No…they couldn't have…could they?'_

His first thought was to flee and leave his fellow witches and wizards to their fate. But his failure with the Rite but a stop to those thoughts as soon as they came. ' _If I went back to the Emperor now…death would be preferable compared what he would do to me.'_ No…fleeing was unfortunately not an option for him at the moment. But with only the dozen or so dragons currently tagged, he would fall short of the amount of death and destruction that the Emperor desired.

On the other hand…if he could bring the Emperor the head of Nox, the one the Emperor himself proclaimed to be their greatest threat then is past failures might just be forgiven.

Pointing his wand towards his throat, he cast a weak sonorous charm on himself. "Get those dragons out of here now! I don't care if we have them all tagged or not! And release the rest of them from their containment!"

His followers hesitated to follow his commands, but one quick killing curse and a dead follower and they were quick to follow his orders to the letter. While they were all scurrying about, Mortis turned heel and marched towards the nearest area of cover he could find. All the while casting numerous concealment charms over himself. He wasn't dumb enough to face Nox face to face. That woman went toe to toe with the Emperor and his Voice Darth Voldemort. Such a woman was not to be underestimated. But if he could take her head back to his Emperor…or better yet in chains…the rewards that would be bestowed upon him…

 _'I have to plan this carefully_.' He thought to himself as he settled himself back in the shadows as he prepared to watch the men and woman who followed him here be slaughtered like the lambs they were. ' _I can't act until the right moment. Or all of this will be for naught.'_

* * *

Seeing the edge of the dragon pits in the distance, Nox went parallel with her broom and urged it to go ever faster. _'Some of those cages are empty.'_ She noticed as her eyes focused in on the pens. _'Shit…we're too – fuck!'_

The slightest push from the Force was her only warning to roll off to the side as a sickly green jet of lightning passed right where she'd been just moments prior. _'Well…at least we know that they're still here._ ' Nox cursed as she dodge yet another green jet as her eyes scanned the ground near the pens trying to pinpoint the locations of the casters.

Once she spotted one of the dark cloaked figures in the distance, she rolled and let go of her broom. Before she could fall more than a few feet from her broom she apparated to a point just behind where she'd seen the cloaked figure. Her intuition, or rather gamble if she was being honest, paid off in spades as she landed right behind three of the black cloaked figures. "Ambushing a lady isn't very proper gentlemen."

The three men nearly jumped as they spun around to face her. But none of them were even remotely fast enough as by the time the first had even managed to start his turn, Nox already had her lightsaber out and was in the process of relieving each man of their head. "Pathetic." She sighed, turning on her heel and seeking out her next opponent.

She didn't have to look very hard as the members of the New Sith Order, having realized that their trap had failed, came out of their hiding places and attempted to surround her. While most would've cursed this action, Nox merely stood tall amongst the cloaked wizards and witches. "You know," she muttered, twirling her lightsaber around lazily as she waited for the first one to cast a spell. "You lot really are lacking in the brains department."

"Fuck you! You're alone now!" One of the wizards behind her cried out as he launched a killing curse at her. A curse which she simply side stepped and allowed to sail past her and right into the chest of a witch.

"As I said," Nox sighed as she watched the limp form of the witch fall to the ground. "Utterly lacking in mental facilities. You all assumed that I'm here by myself. And, seeing a chance at victory, you all jumped at the opportunity and…exposed yourselves."

A barrage of brightly colored bolts fell from the sky as the men and women Nox had brought with her rained down death with heir blasters and wands on the exposed idiots. For the briefest of moments, Nox actually felt a pang of regret as she watched the slaughter. These people were not soldiers. They were not trained. They were fools. But as quick as the pang came, she forced it away. Fools they might've been. But they'd made the choice to follow the Sith. And the Sith were her enemies. She would not allow herself to feel regret for her enemies.

The slaughter, for that was what it truly was, seemed to stretch on forever but in actuality lasted only a few moments. When Nox raised her hand to signal a cease fire, only one of the former Death Eaters remained alive. Her body bloodied and her hand reach out in vain for a wand just barely out of her reach. Walking forward towards the sole remaining survivor, Nox wedged her toe under the wand and kicked it away just as the woman was about to grab it.

"None of that now." Nox sighed as the woman looked up at her with hate. "Where's Mortis?"

The woman glared up at her. "Fuck you…bitch."

Nox merely sighed. _'So uninventive_.' "Sorry…but you're not my type." And with a flick of her wand she snapped the woman's neck, killing her instantly.

The sound of brooms slowing and heavy footfalls landing all around her broke her from her musing over the dead woman long enough to turn around and face the soldiers and Tonks. "Not all of the dragons are here." She said calmly and clearly. "Charlie Weasley gave us an accurate count of how many should be here. I want you all to spread out and get an accurate count of how many are missing. And someone send a message to our teams in the air. Tell them to get ready to respond to potential dragon attacks. Tonks, you're with me. Oh, and keep your heads about you. Mortis isn't here. But I doubt the little bastard is far. Move."

The squad broke into two groups, one to search the area while the second began to contact the teams in the air in order to update them on their situation. "So," Tonks drawled slowly, her eyes scanning over the corpses before rising to her. "What makes you think this Mortis bugger is still around? According to Kenobi, he was quite quick to cut and run when presented with a tough challenge."

"Because he has no choice." Nox answered, turning her back on Tonks and making her way further into the reserve. "And…I can smell his stench. No matter how well he's hidden."

Snapping her wand down into her hand, Nox turned on a dime and sent a blasting hex just past Tonks and towards a small shed. The shed erupted in a shower of smoke and debris as her spell reduced the structure to rubble. And though the cloud of dust she could just barely make out a small invisible figure, outlined by the dust around him, scurry away like a rat.

Tonks, to her credit, didn't miss a beat as she turned and had her wand trained on the invisible figure less than a second after the detonation. " _Bombarda! Stupefy! Incarcerous!"_

Tonks' trio of spells were cast so quickly they almost seemed to be one long continuous chant rather than three individual spells. The first spell caused the ground right in front of the fleeing invisible figure to erupt, making it stop and try to back track. Her second spell prevented that however as he was forced to come up short in order to avoid the red stunning spell. And that was when Tonks' third spell struck the mostly invisible figure as ropes appeared out of thin air and wrapped themselves around the figure, bringing him securely to the ground.

Tonks didn't stop there though, the moment the figure touched the ground she flipped her wand upright. A dozen small trinkets flew off the man only to land neatly in a pile at Tonks' feet. The last item to go was a pitch black curved wand that had numerous runes carved into the wood.

"Damn Tonks." Nox smirked, looking over at her young lover who had a far too pleased with herself grin plastered across her face. "That was…stimulating."

Tonks smirked as her hair involuntarily turned a slight shade of red, as was common whenever she was embarrassed. "Yes…well…play time later then?"

"Oh yes." Nox smiled, slapping her lover across the rear before turning towards the down and bound figure."But…business before pleasure I guess. Or maybe this is a different type of pleasure? There is certainly nothing like having an enemy at your mercy."

Mortis was…exactly how she imagined: Old, decrepit, and completely consumed by the dark side. But he was powerful. Incredibly so. So, just to be on the safe side, Nox added several binding spells of her own as well as a temporary bind on the man's magic. Just to make sure he wouldn't be able to leave anytime soon. "Well well," Nox tsked, squatting down next to the wretched little creature. "I take it that you're the big bad 'Darth' Mortis that I've been hearing about recently? Tell me, how is my old pal Vitiate? Still a soul sucking parasite?"

Mortis glared up at the two of them with pure loathing. "You think you've won Nox?" Mortis spat. "You have no idea who you are fighting against!"

"Oh, I disagree. I know the Emperor far better than you could ever hope. Now," drawing her wand, she pressed the tip right against the man's temple. "We're going to play a game. I ask you a question and you answer. Tell the truth and we move onto the next question. Lie to me…and I'll let your imagination fill in the blanks."

"You think you scare me?" Mortis drawled, his lips turning upwards into a cruel grin. "I'm not afraid of you Nox. Do your worst if you dare. I embrace pain! I love it! You don't get to where I am by being scared of it. So do what you will, you will get nothing out of me."

"Torture? Is that what you think I'm going to do to you?" Nox asked, acting completely flabbergasted. "No…I'm not going to torture you Mortis. In fact…I won't even lay a hand on you. For you see, I believe you when you say that you don't fear me. Because you fear someone else far more than I. The Emperor."

"But Nox, doesn't Mortis follow his beloved Emperor? Why would he have any reason to fear him?" Tonks asked dramatically, tapping her chin as if deep in thought.

"Because the Emperor is not the forgiving sort, is he Mortis?" Nox smirked vindictively at the cowering little man as she saw a moment true terror enter his eyes. "And you have more to fear from him than anyone else under his command don't you Mortis? What is this now? Two failures? Well, I guess you did get some dragons off but we'll be sure to counter any damage they might cause and put them back where they belong. So I guess it's more like one and three-quarter failures. What do you think our old pal Vitiate is going to do to you when I send you back to him? Bound. Gagged. And your magic permanently bound. You'll be useless to him. Worse yet, you'll be a useless failure."

Mortis started to shake ever so slightly, and Nox could almost taste the fear rolling off of him. "I don't know what you're talking about Nox. I have nothing to fear from my Emperor. I am a Darth! One of his chosen few! I sit at his right hand on the Dark Council!"

Nox tried to hold it in, but after staring at the man for a solid minute she simply couldn't hold it in any longer and proceeded to laugh harder than she had in a long time. "Oh my…dear dear Mortis." Nox cooed as she tried to control herself. "Thank you for that. I haven't had a good laugh in a long time."

"You find something about what I just said amusing Nox?" Mortis growled, his eyes hardening. "You too once had the honor of sitting on his Council! As hard as I find that to believe. Surely you know the honor of serving him!"

All traces of humor evaporated from Nox as memories from her time on the Dark Council flooded through her. "You're right. I did sit on his Dark Council once upon a time. For a far longer time than you have as well. And let me tell you, if you think your position protects you, then you are a fool of the highest caliber. If anything, your position on the Dark Council only makes you more likely to die at his hands. Or Azcarin's if he's feeling particularly merciful for some reason other."

This time the fear didn't despite from his eyes, no matter how well he tried to mask it. "I have done nothing to anger the Emperor. He entrusted me with this task! I have never failed him!"

 _'False words…I wonder just who he's trying to convince with such an obvious lie? Me or himself._ ' "Yes you have Mortis." Nox sighed, sitting down next to him and patting him on the head. "After all, you failed epically with the Rite of Annulment."

Mortis blinked and even Tonks looked surprised by what she'd said. "I– I don't know what you're talking about." Mortis stammered.

 _'Got you_.' Nox thought, smiling at her victory. _'Sometimes gambles really do pay off in spades._ ' "Yes you do Mortis. The Rite of Annulment was your task that the Emperor gave you after the Second World War." Nox said before turning towards a clearly confused Tonks. "You see, I was wondering just what sort of tasks Vitiate had assigned to this one here. After all, thanks to Narcissa we knew that he gave each of his four 'Darths' a specific task to fulfill. Nightshade was to create his Children. Blackwood was to train and lead his vanguard forces. And Voldemort was to become his Voice. That only left one person. Mortis."

Pausing she turned back to Mortis. "Honestly, I had no idea what task he'd assigned you. But I should've known. After all, the Rite of Annulment was created after the Second World War when the world leaders were paranoid about another possible magical uprising. But the biggest clue came behind the so-called 'architect' of the project. One Dr. Sitrom. Or, if you bother to read it backwards, Mortis." Patting the man on the head, Nox smiled widely at his glare of pure loathing. "Tell me Mortis, how much pain did the Emperor put you through after you reported your failure before you managed to convince him of the validity of this venture?"

Sweat was dripping off of Mortis's brow as he continued to stare up at her. "I– I can help you!"

Smiling sweetly, Nox turned towards Tonks. "You see my dear. In the end almost all of those who serve the darkness are cowards. So Mortis, you're willing to turn traitor for what? My protection from your dear Emperor? What could you possibly give us that would even make me remotely consider your offer?"

Mortis's eyes darted to and fro as he racked his brain trying to come up with something to offer her. "I have names!"

Nox didn't bother to hide her snort of disgust. "As do I Mortis. I know of pretty much every major player in this New Sith Order and even some of the minor players. Hell, I bet I even know more names than you do. The only thing that I don't know are the names of the Children of the Emperor. And seeing as how you had no hand in their creation, there is no reason to believe that any name you give me would be genuine."

The sweat covering Mortis's brow had become so thick that it was to the point where Nox could actually smell it. "Th– there's a new Darth on the Dark Council!"

"Bellatrix Lestrange." Nox replied, answering his unasked question and drawing a sharp look from Tonks and a confused one from Mortis. "If you thought that Narcissa was my only spy amongst Voldemort's ranks, then you are a fool. How do you think we managed to respond to your retrieval of Azcarin so quickly? We were tipped off. So, what are we on now? Strike two? And you know what they say. Three strikes and you're out. Better make this last offer tempting. Oh, and don't try to sell me some bullshit about knowing the location Malfoy Manner or one of Vitiate's other holdings. All of them are under the Fidelius Charm and you're not the Secret Keeper for any of them."

Mortis's entire posture shrunk in on itself. Sighing in defeat, Nox rose to her feet and drew her wand out of her sleeve. "Wait!" Mortis cried, eyeing her wand fearfully. "I– I know of something that will be of use to you! A special project, one that he has Lucius Malfoy working on! They have dozens of squibs and bound muggleborn slaves working on it at a hidden location that no one is supposed to know about! But I– I figured out the location! I'll give it to you! Just…please…mercy."

Nox idly tapped the tip of her wand against the palm of her left hand as she considered his offer. _'A special project involving dozens of enslaved squibs and muggleborns…and headed by Lucius. Hmm…interesting. Naricssa did report that Lucius was always disappearing for long hour and would often come back muddied. Perhaps there is something to this.'_

"Alright Mortis. Let's hear it. And for your sake, I hope that this information is worth it."

Mortis let out a sigh of relief. "First I want an oath of protection from you!"

"Why Mortis, I'm hurt. Don't you trust me?" Nox asked with mock hurt. "But fine, if you want to be that way. I, Ziri Nox, do hereby swear on my magic to do my utmost to protect you from the Emperor. Satisfied?"

Mortis swallowed hard enough that she could see his throat bob up and down. "Yes…he has a warehouse. I can give you the coordinates. I don't know what he is working on there…but I know that it's some sort of key to a weapon that he's afraid to use because you might turn it against him. These are the coordinates…"

 _'Interesting_.' Nox mused as she listened carefully to the location he provided her. ' _What could he possibly have stashed away that could give him an edge in this war? Well that's a stupid question. Given how behind the times the technology is on this planet it could be a laundry list of things. But if he's afraid to use it because it's something I could take from him…that…narrows down the list. But still doesn't answer the question about what it is.'_

"Nox!"

Shaking her head, Nox refocused her attention on the pathetic creature at her feet. "Sorry, you were saying something?"

Mortis's eyes narrowed. "You have what you want! Now get me to safety!"

"Don't worry Mortis." Nox smiled, turning her back on him and striding away. "The Emperor will not get his hands on you." Her pace slowed only slightly as she passed by Tonks. "Make it quick."

Tonks gave her a single nod before drawing her wand and advancing on Mortis. "Nox!" Mortis cried out as Tonks advanced on him. "You vowed that-"

"I vowed that I would do my upmost to protect your from the Emperor." Nox responded coldly, her voice completely flat and emotionless as she turned back around to face him. "I never promised to keep you alive. And besides Mortis. You tried to kill over a billion people and nearly succeeded. Do you really think that I would let someone like you live after that?"

Mortis's eyes widened to the size of fists as he renewed his struggling tenfold against both Tonks's and Nox's bindings. Tonks, after the brief interruption, didn't hesitate as she closed the distance, stopping only when she was standing directly over the Dark Lord. "Do you have any last words?"

Mortis glared up at her. "Fuck you!"

Nox could practically feel Tonks rolling her eyes. "'Fuck you'? Really? That's the best you can do? Try again."

Mortis continued to struggle as he tried to worm away from her. "Cunt!"

Tonks' head slowly turned from side to side. "You really suck at dying, you know that right?" And then without a second hesitation she raised her wand and casted a powerful cutting curse that severed the Mortis's head from his body.

As Tonks turned her back on the former Darth, Nox merely raised an eyebrow at her lover. "'You really suck at dying'?'" She mimicked. "Really Nymph?"

Tonks' cheeks reddened ever so slightly as she approached. "Well…he did. I mean, he was Dark Lord and all. I figure he would…well…you know. Go out with some backbone. Say something meaningful like, 'I will return' or 'I cannot be killed'. Not shitting in his breeches and crying like a baby."

"You'd be surprised just how many who the follow the darkness meet their end sniveling and pleading for life." Nox snorted as she thought back on the blood path she'd carved through the Sith during her rise to power.

"Ma'am!" One of the soldiers shouted as he came up to the two of them and coming to a stop a few feet from them.

"How many dragons are missing?" Nox asked without preamble.

"We've accounted for all but twelve dragons ma'am." The man answered her quickly.

Nox felt like pinching the bridge of her nose. _'A dozen dragons. Force…how much damage can twelve dragons do when dropped into the middle of heavily populated area?_ ' "Have our satellites or air teams managed to find any of them yet sergeant?"

"No ma'am." The sergeant answered swiftly. "They've…we haven't been able to find any trace of them. They're not attacking any cities nor flying around. There is still a lot of area to cover. But at the moment ma'am…all we know is that they're gone."

That pulled Nox up short. She'd expected Vitiate to use the dragons to spread chaos and destruction. Mortis was certainly under such an assumption. "I need one of the portkeys that they were using on the dragons." Nox said as she walked past the sergeant and towards the pens. "Now."

"Yes ma'am!" The sergeant shouted before giving her a quick salute and running off to relay her orders to the rest of the squad.

"What are you thinking Nox?" Tonks asked her as the two of them separated from the rest of the group and made their way over towards the dead members of the New Sith Order.

Kneeling down next to one of the bodies, Nox waved her wand over his body while casting a summoning charm for any portkeys. _'Nothing_.' Nox frowned, repeating the process again only this time with a much more powerful summoning charm. And once again nothing happened. "I don't like this." Nox said, breaking her silence as she rose to her feet. "They took the dragons, and Mortis was apparently under the impression that they were heading towards cities to wreak havoc. Only that didn't happen. The dragons disappeared…but now nothing. So now the question is…where are they?"

* * *

Standing on the bridge of the _Wolfsbane_ , Harry looked out over the expanse of blue water beneath them. It wasn't as awe inspiring as staring into the vast darkness of space, but it certainly had its own beauty. In the distance ahead of them, he could just barely make out a dozen shapes on the horizon that were slowly becoming larger with each passing moment. "The thirteenth fleet." Aela muttered as she stepped up beside him. "One carrier. Two destroyers to watch out for submarines. One cruiser for anti-air purposes. Two multi-purpose warships. And five support frigates. Quite the grouping if I do say so myself."

"Yes it is." Harry nodded as they came close enough as to where Harry could make out each ship.

"Hold here." Aela commanded, "And send out a call on all frequencies announcing our intentions. We don't want to spook them anymore than they probably already are."

"Too late for that Captain." The pilot winced as Harry saw two shapes lift off of the carrier. "They're already rolling out the welcoming crew and…there's hailing us."

 _ **"Attention…unidentified craft. You are entering restricted airspace. Identify yourselves immediately or we will assume hostilities and react accordingly."**_

"Well…at least they were nice enough to tell us that they plan on shooting us before they started to actually shoot at us." Aela remarked lightly as two fighters, both of which Harry noted were F1-Alpha fighters, flew past them. "This Captain Aela of the Wolfsbane." Aela said clearly as the pilot opened the channel for her to speak with the fighters. "We have information about the recent attacks, specifically who's behind them and a possible way to counter them and wish to speak with Admiral Hackett regarding this information."

"Do you think that will actually work?" Harry asked as he peered out the forward window at the two fighters, who were flying on either side of the Woflsbane.

"I hope so." Aela shrugged. "I really didn't have any other plan to get you all on that ship. I suppose we could fly over and let you all jump out if need be."

"Fantastic." Harry muttered, shaking his head. "And what do we do once we get on the ship? Do you think this Admiral will actually listen to us?"

"Don't know." Aela shrugged once more. "But what I do know is that we have to try. The New Sith Order has us severely outnumbered and, for the most part, out gunned as well. Not to mention they've got the better part of the world stirred up likes a hornets nest. If we don't get some allies and fast…then this is going to be a really short war."

Nodding his head slowly, Harry turned away from the front viewport and made his way through the ship and down into the cargo bay with Aela at his side. Within the hold the rest of their small group was waiting for them. Master Kenobi was standing beside General Rex. While Ginny, Susan, Ahsoka and Hermione were all huddled together.

 _'I don't like this Harry.'_

 _'Which part?'_ Harry thought back rhetorically as he met Ahsoka's eyes. _'The part where we're heading onto a naval carrier surrounded by hundreds of armed soldiers with itchy trigger fingers. Or the part where we have to do this without Daphne around to help point out who's a Child of the Emperor?'_

"Will you two stop that." Ginny growled, her chocolate brown eyes darting back and forth between Harry and Ahsoka. "Just because I can't hear you two when you do your little telepathy trick doesn't mean I don't know when you're doing it."

Susan and Hermione both started giggling like, well like the school girls that they were. Master Kenobi merely gave the two a slight grin and a shake of his head while General Rex remained completely stoic, as always. Aela however, she slapped Harry on the back and laughed outright. "Busted kid." The she-wolf laughed before her eyes turned towards Ginny. "So…you can sense when Harry and Ahsoka are talking in their minds huh? Hmm…imagine when they're having a bit of…private time in a year or two. Reckon that you'll be able to sense that as well?"

Susan and Hermione were both nearly doubled over, holding onto their gut while Harry, Ahsoka and Ginny all went red in the face. Or blue in Ahsoka's case. "You…do you think that…no. Nope. Not thinking about this now. Calm…there is no emotion…there is the Force…Harry…stop that now!"

Harry couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face as Ahsoka's blush intensified as he sent her a mental reminder of just what the two of them had been up too just a few hours before they headed out on the Wolfsbane.

"Alright, enough of that." Master Kenobi said not unkindly as he stepped forward. "This is a serious matter we have before us. We cannot allow these talks to break down due to childish antics."

"Yes Master Kenobi." All five of the youngsters said as one.

 _'Aaaand there's the famous Negotiator voice_.' Ahsoka spoke through their link as the eight of them lined up on the middle of the closed loading ramp as they waited for the ship to descend onto the carrier. 'This Admiral will be in the palm of our hands within the hour.'

Suddenly a voice over the P.A came through the cargo hold, "Captain, we've been given clearance to land, will be down in a moment."

 _'I hope that you're right Ahsoka._ ' Harry sent back as the ship rocked slightly before the loading ramp hissed and began to lower itself.

What awaited them on the other side nearly had Harry reaching for his lightsaber and his wand. Two dozen heavily armed soldiers were standing just beyond their ship. Their weapons weren't pointed at them, yet. But Harry could sense the fear, anxiety and mild hatred that was rolling off of the soldiers before them. The only one that seemed completely at ease was the lone unarmed man standing in front of the soldiers. His face was covered with wrinkles, but it had that hard definition that spoke volumes. And, just like his mother and Master Yoda, the man almost seemed to radiate an aura that demanded respect. _'Admiral Hackett.'_ Harry thought, looking the man over.

Moving slowly, yet without hesitation, Master Kenobi and General Rex took the first steps down the ramp. Their arms held out to their sides slightly and palms facing out to show that they were not armed. Once the two were about half way down, Harry and the rest of them made their way down in the same manner as Master Kenobi and Rex.

"That's far enough." The Admiral said, his voice carrying an air of authority that demanded obedience. "Identify yourselves, or you'll be shot."

"Peace, Admiral Hackett." Obi-Wan said calmly. "I am Guardian Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, a member of a special branch…let's say unique individuals under the direction of our Grand Master, Ziri Nox. Beside me here is Rex, Commander of the Guardians ground and air forces. The ones behind me are also members of the Guardian Order; Knights Harry Potter, Ahsoka Tano and Susan Bones. As well as Apprentices Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley."

Harry could sworn he saw something akin to recognition in the Admiral's eyes as he was introduced, indeed the Admiral did turn to look at him brief before refocusing on Master Kenobi. _'He knows of the magical world.'_ Harry sent to Ahsoka as he took note of the individuals before them that reacted to his name. _'Two others in the group before us do as well.'_

 _'How do you know?'_

 _'Because they reacted to my name.'_ Harry answered back. _'Only someone who has knowledge of the magical world would react to my name in such a manner.'_

The Admiral stared at each of them in turned as they were being introduced, his eyes lingering the longest on Ahsoka, no doubt due to the fact that she wasn't hiding her Togruta heritage.

"Ziri Nox." Admiral Hackett half sighed as he tore his eyes away from Ahsoka. "Why am I not surprised to hear that she is in the thick of this mess?" Pausing, the Admiral took a step forward and stared up at the Wolfsbane. "Or that she has obviously been holding back on just what she's been producing in those factories she thinks no one knows about."

"A discussion for another time no doubt." Obi-Wan continued on non-repulsed. "Tell me Admiral…how many present know of the Statue of Secrecy?"

If the Admiral was surprised or put off by the question, he didn't show it. "So that is the way of it." The Admiral nodded as he took a step turned his back on the ship. "I thought that might've been the case." Pausing, he spared a glance over his shoulder, his eyes passing over Harry and the girls. "This isn't a place for a school trip Mr. Kenobi."

"I can understand your skepticism Admiral Hackett." Obi-Wan nodded. "But these five have already contributed more to this war effort than you can possibly imagine. They may be young, but they are ready and willing to face down the trials ahead of us. Indeed, they have in fact already passed through trials that would make even the most veteran amongst your forces to cower in fear."

Turning back towards them, Admiral Hackett once again took his time to study each of them. "We'll see." He said after a long moment of silence. "Follow me. And get that bird off of my flight deck."

Left with no other choice but to flow, their small group made their way across the massive deck of the carrier, pausing only long enough for Aela to signal up to the cockpit for the pilot of the Wolfsbane to take off before making their way into the carrier proper. The passageways within the ship were incredibly narrow, when compared to the spacious design of the Wolfsbane that was, forcing them to walk single file down the ship. After nearly ten minutes of navigating their way through the interior of the ship, the Admiral led them into a large conference room of sorts that was dominated by a large oval table that dominated most of the room. Once they were all in, Admiral Hackett dismissed almost all of the guards that'd been flowing them, leaving only the three behind; one man with slightly greying hair and one young man and one young woman, as the rest left. The last one closing the door on his way out.

"We can talk freely now. Sit down." Admiral Hackett declared as he took a seat, his two guards taking up positions on either side of him. "These two both are fully aware of the magical realm so we can talk freely. So tell me, what is this information that you have that is so valuable?"

Once they were all seated, Obi-Wan leaned forward and rested his arms on the table. "Perhaps, Admiral Hackett, it would be easiest for you to tell us what you know and we will do our best to fill in the gaps."

Hackett stayed perfectly still for a brief moment before giving Obi-Wan a curt nod. "I know that less than a week ago Washington, as well as several other capital cities around the world, were razed to the ground. I know that during the initial attack thousands of key governmental and military personnel from around the globe were assassinated. I know that in the intervening days these assassinations and attacks have continued through the use of magical means and creatures. And I know that with each moment that passes us by, dozens more are killed. Politicians. Military. Civilians. It doesn't seem to matter. So stop wasting my time and tell me why the magical world has declared war on us."

The tension within the air had grown so much during the Admiral's speech that by the time he stop Harry could've sworn he could taste it. But despite the tension, or perhaps because of it, Obi-Wan seemed completely at ease. _'You wasn't kidding. He really did earn his nickname.'_

"That is, unfortunately, only half of the story Admiral." Obi-Wan replied calmly. "While it is true that the non-magical world is under attack, it is also true that the magical world has also come under attack. And while the non-magical realm is being attacked exclusively by those who have magic, the magical realms are under attack by those without magic. And these attacks are occurring simultaneously by single group. A cabal known as the 'New Sith Order'. A group composed of both magicals and non-magicals whose intent is to cause a war between the non-magical and magical realms of Earth."

Leaning back in his seat, Hackett rubbed at his chin. "Do you have proof of this?"

"Yes." Obi-Wan nodded. "We have memories that can be viewed and testimonial that can be given to prove our words. And we've had our fair share of skirmishes over the past few weeks with them as well."

"What can you tell me about this, 'New Sith Order'?" Hackett asked.

"As I said, they are a group that operates mainly in the shadows, their numbers include both magical and non-magical people and creatures." Obi-Wan explained without missing a beat. "Their upper echelons however are all magical, with their top four commanders being given the title of 'Darth'. Their names are Nightshade, Mortis, Blackwood and Voldemort."

Blackwood's name perked the Admiral up slightly. However Voldemort's names made him blink in confusion. "I know of Blackwood. We've been aware of his little group operating in the States for some time now. However he's slippery and neither the governments have been able to pin anything on him. Voldemort however…the reports we have on him say that he died nearly fifteen years ago. Killed by the young man sitting just over there if I'm not mistaken."

"I didn't kill Voldemort all those years ago." Harry said, speaking up for the first time. "Voldemort came after me because he became aware of a prophecy that was made that said that a child that was born at the end of July would one day rise to defeat him. Because of this prophecy, he hunted my parents down. He killed my father. And my mother…my mother sacrificed herself to create a protective ward around myself that deflected Voldemort's killing curse back at him and destroyed his body. However, before he died he took…precautions. And because of these precautions he became a wraith. And a few months ago his followers found him and created a new body for him to inhabit, essentially bringing him back from the dead."

The Admiral held Harry's gaze the entire time he spoke. It was only when he finished that Hackett turned his attention back to Obi-Wan. "If this is true, then why wasn't the world governments notified? Blackwood is, or at least was, little more than a gloried mob boss according to the FBI and CIA. Voldemort however…he was said to be on par with Grindelwald, and that son of a bitch helped to start and prolong World War II."

"We did." Obi-Wan shot back, albeit lacking any heat. "However British Ministry of Magic refused to believe that Voldemort was still alive. And the other world Ministries considered it a British problem and therefore not their affair. Which is the same reaction Nox received from the non-magical governments when she tried to warn them about not only Voldemort's return. But the New Sith Order as well. But even Voldemort is only a pawn. The true controlling power of the New Sith is a dark entity known as Vitiate that has existed for nearly three and a half millennia. And he's been planning for this very moment the entire time."

Resting his elbows on the table, Hackett folded his hands together and placed them under his nose. "So…what you're telling me is that we have shadow that's headed by some of the most dangerous magical beings in the world and led by a dark entity that has existed for over three thousand years. I trust that you can appreciate just how ridiculous this all sounds. But," Hackett paused. "I doubt that you all came around the world just to spout off a bunch of lies. So tell everything you know about this New Sith Order. What are their forces comprised of? And what is their command structure outside of the five you mentioned."

For the next hour Obi-Wan explained everything they knew about the New Sith Order. From the dementors, to the known magical members and what they knew of the non-magicals that'd so far fought with the Sith. Hackett stayed quiet, save for the question or two that he had, and absorbed everything that Master Kenobi could tell him. However when he began telling the Admiral about the Children of the Emperor, the Admiral held up his hand. "Wait. You're telling me that there are thousands of these magical sleeper agents around the world that are completely and utterly devoted to this…Emperor Vitiate. And that they've all been activated?"

"Unfortunately, that is exactly what we're telling you Admiral." Obi-Wan nodded slowly.

Frowning, the Admiral rubbed at his chin. "Do you have a way of identifying these…Children?"

"We do." Harry spoke up. "One of the Knights of the Guardian Order, Daphne Greengrass, has a unique ability even amongst us. With just a glance she can sense a person's true nature. This ability allows her to quickly and accurately identify anyone who is a Child of the Emperor."

"The enemy is using them to sow discord amongst the general population Admiral." Rex chimed in for the first time. "They use the dementors to spread terror. And they've formed their magical and non-magical personnel into strike teams, which perform surgical assaults. They're efficient and deadly. We barely receive word of an attack before they're already gone."

His face remaining completely natural, Hackett stared at each of them in turn before settling on Obi-Wan. "I appreciate the intel. But perhaps now is a good time to tell me just why you've come to me."

"Quite frankly Admiral," Obi-Wan said slowly. "We need your help. We of the Guardian Order have the means and the knowledge to take the fight to the New Sith Order. Indeed we've dealt several significant blows to them already. But we lack the manpower to truly fight against them and keep the world from descending into chaos. You however, as the perhaps the highest ranking military officer left in the US armed forces, have the man power to fight against them but your men lack the experience and knowledge to truly combat effectively against the Sith. Together, along with the British Prime Minister, we believe that we can not only defeat this New Sith Order, but also keep the world from tearing itself apart in the process."

Drumming his fingers against the surface of the table, Hackett stared blankly at Obi-Wan. "I'll need to talk with Ms. Nox regar-" Hackett was interrupted everyone in the room lurched forward slightly as all of the lights went out before half of them flickered back on a few seconds later.

Without missing a beat, Hackett was out of his chair and made his way over to a hardwired phone that was against one of the walls. "Hackett to bridge. Status report."

Rising to his feet, Harry shared a glance with both Ginny and Ahsoka before turning his attention back to the Admiral, who was listening attentively to the voice on the other end of the phone. "Send out the emergency response teams." The Admiral said after several long moments of silence. "I want those breaches sealed immediately. And get our best engineers down to the reactor. Hackett out."

Hanging up the phone, Hackett turned towards them. His eyes as cold and hard as ice. "There were several explosions coming from within the ship. And there are now three hull breaches beneath the waterline and the lower levels are slowly starting to flood. Not only that, but the ship's nuclear reactor has been disabled somehow and we're dead in the water." Pausing, the Admiral drew his side arm but didn't raise it. "You have ten seconds to explain to me how your lot are not involved in this."

Harry's mind raced and he barely managed to hold in his rebuke. But thankfully for them all, Obi-Wan was quicker than Harry. "It would make no sense for us to attack you Admiral." Obi-Wan stated calmly, his hands tucked into either sleeve of his robes where Harry knew he kept his wand and lightsaber. _'Hope for the best, plan for the worst.'_ "We came to you in good faith hoping to secure an alliance. I would do us no good to try and kill you and your men. Especially with us still on your boat and surrounded by hundreds of your people."

The Admiral and his three guards all stood stoically staring at them while Harry and the others returned the favor in kind. Harry's fingers itched to feel the smooth surface of his wand or the cool metal of his lightsaber. But he refrained out of worry of provoking their potential allies into making a rash and foolish decision.

"You're quite right." Hackett nodded, putting away his sidearm, and just like that Harry felt almost all of the tension that'd been building in the room dissipate as if it were never even a thing in the first place. "But now the question becomes just who did attack us. And more importantly how did they attack us and what is their next course of action."

Before anyone could say anything however the ship rocked once again. This time Harry could actually hear the explosions as they echoed on and on throughout the ship not far from where they were. 'What the fuck?' Harry thought as he held onto the table to stabilize himself as Hackett once again went over to the phone. Only this time instead of picking the receiver up like he did before, this time he pressed down on a red button on the phone. "Hackett to Anderson. What the hell is going on up there Captain?"

 _ **"Admiral, there was an explosion in the hanger bay. Almost every fighter we have onboard are now completely disabled or heavily damaged. It seems that our response crews have run into resistance from – what? Repeat that! Admiral, we have an unauthorized bird heading up to the flight deck! Find out who that is and stop them!"**_

Harry could see the lines along the aged Admirals face tighten. "What about the response teams. What sort of resistance are they encountering?"

"What do you mean you can't – sorry Admiral. We can't get a line to the bird and it's almost up on deck. The crews within the ship are…we'll I don't know what they're encountering. The reports just say that they're encountering some sort of resistance."

"Very well Captain." Hackett said evenly. "Stop that bird and send help to the response crews." Letting go of the intercom, Hackett seemed to take a moment to compose himself before turning towards them. "You say that you want to help. Then help."

"Of course." Obi-Wan nodded before turning his head slightly to stare at Harry. "Harry, take your Apprentice up onto the flight deck and stop that fighter from leaving and then provide whatever help you can in containing the fires. Do not hold back. Especially if we are dealing with a Child of the Emperor. Everyone else with me to the lower levels of the ship."

Obi-Wan had barely managed to finish speaking before Harry, after sparing a brief parting glance with Ahsoka, grabbed hold of Ginny's arm an apparated the two of them out of the conference room and up onto the main deck of the ship. The scene that greeted them was one of pure chaos. Men were running back and forth screaming orders at one another as they tried to put out fires coming up from the blown out holes in the tarmac.

Hearing a low whine even above the nose of the yelling, Harry's eyes snapped down to the end of the ship were a lone F1-Alpha was attempting to take off despite the dozen or so sailors surrounding it doing whatever they could to keep it grounded. Without though, Harry threw his hand out as he reached out through the Force in order to grab hold of the fighter as it began to vertically take off.

 _'Shit_!' Harry cursed as the fighter stuttered in mid-air before it became seemingly frozen in place. _'It's like trying to hold onto an eel underwater!'_ It wasn't that it was necessarily hard to stop…it was just hard to hold onto.

"Ginny!" Harry cried out through gritted teeth as the main thruster on the fighter kicked up several notches as the pilot no doubt tried to free himself from Harry's hold. "A little help would be appreciated!"

Ginny's hand joined his own in the air, and the slipperiness of the fighter suddenly ceased as the two almost effortlessly pulled the fighter down hard to the ground. Perhaps a little too hard. As the fighter didn't just land back down, it crashed. Both wings snapped like kindling and the main thruster went up a plume of smoke and fire which quickly dissipated even as the sailors were trying to get away from the crash site. "Help the crew." Harry said, spying movement in the cockpit of the fighter and drawing his lightsaber out of its sheath and into his hand. "I've got this one."

Ginny only spared him the briefest of nods before running off to help the crew of the ship while Harry took his time walking across the tarmac towards the downed ship. When he'd crossed half the distance that separated them, the glass shielding over the cockpit flew off as the pilot rolled out of the fighter and onto the ground.

As the man rose to his feet, Harry noticed that he had a long cut that was bleeding heavily across his face. His left arm was hanging limply down at his side and he seemed to be favoring his right leg as well. Other than his injuries, the man looked just like every other member of the crew of the carrier. So much so in fact that Harry actually started to doubt whether or not he even was a Child of the Emperor. Those doubts were dashed however as the man turned towards him and froze. "Jedi." He hissed loudly before reaching behind him.

Any lingering doubts as to his identity were firmly put to rest as the wrecked fighter behind him rose with his hand before barreling forward towards Harry. Just before the ship could reach him, Harry held out his hand and with the barest amount of energy redirected the fighter towards the edge of the ship and into the depths of the ocean below.

Pulling out his wand, Harry let loose a general compulsion charm to give the two of them space. "So…you're a Child of the Emperor." Harry stated as he stood his ground a dozen paces away. The rest of the flight crew, after combination having witnessed magic more than likely for the first time and Harry's compulsion charm, had all run off towards safety leaving the two of them alone.

The man was breathing heavily as his right arm held onto his left shoulder. "Proudly." The man spat. "And you are nothing but a pathetic Jedi insect just waiting to be crushed by my Father."

Shaking his head, Harry activated his lightsaber. "Two things." Harry said calmly as the Child's eyes flickered between his own eyes and his lightsaber. "First, I'm not a Jedi so don't be expecting any mercy from me. And two…just to let you know, your 'Father', as you call him, doesn't giver two shits about you."

The man smiled as he held his hand out. One of the thin straight pieces metal that came off the fighter when it crashed shot up into his open hand. "You think you can put me off balance." The Child said, channeling subtle waves of the Force into the thin piece of metal. "But it won't work. Do you know why? Because all of His Children understand that we are expendable. And we accept it!"

 _'Harry_ ,' Ahsoka's voice almost shouted in his head. ' _Whoever this bastard Child is, he hid small portkeys all around the ship and he's used them to bring in dementors.'_

Keeping his face calm was an effort. Especially as he could feel the biting cold of the dark side of the Force slowly getting heavier. _'Yeah…I can sense them now_.' He sent back as he twirled his lightsaber around in a slow circle. "So what was the plan?" He asked out loud. "Hide portkeys all around the ship and bring in a few dementors to try and assassinate the Admiral and spread further disorder through and already nervous military force and thereby hoping to provoke them into attacking the magical communities like originally planned?"

The man actually hesitated a second before he blew a long breath and stared at the mist created. "I see…so my Father's vanguard is already close enough for you to sense them." The man nodded. "But it doesn't matter. You can't kill them. And in these tight quarters your means of deterring them won't matter."

"Oh that is where you're wrong." Harry smirked. "I've already kill more than my fair share of the beasts. Just ask you're precious 'Father' if you don't believe. Not that you're going to have a chance though."

The man's grin went feral as he spread his feet and readied himself to attack. "You honestly think that you, a kid, can kill a Child of the Emperor. How pathetically naive."

"Only one way to find out." Harry said evenly as he dashed forward, his lightsaber held in a reverse Djem So guard.

The Child swung his piece of metal around, meeting Harry's lightsaber. The metal held, despite the sparks flying off of it. 'Unbreakable charm.' Harry thought as he pushed off and spun low aiming for the man's legs before following his attack up by righting his grip and lunging forward.

The Child managed to back step away from his low slash and was forced to bend backwards to avoid his lunge. He tried to bring his own makeshift weapon around, but he the position he was in didn't allow for much of any strength behind his attack and Harry was able to bat the attack away almost lazily before following it up by lashing out with a Force Push, which sent the Child rolling across the deck of the carrier.

"You're not half bad." The Child said as he regained his footing. "Too bad this is the part where you die Jedi!"

Harry ducked as he felt the oppressing weight and cold of the dark side closing in on him. Peering over his shoulder, Harry watched as a dementor passed over his head so close he could almost reach out and touch it. Harry expected the demon to stop and descend upon him, but instead it passed him over completely. He wasn't the creature's target. But this realization came a half-second too late for him to do anything as the dementor fell upon the Child. It's bone like hands reaching out and grabbing the surprised Child's facing and pressing it close to its own. The man didn't even have to scream before it was over, and his soulless corpse was falling to the tarmac.

"Fuck." Harry cursed, deactivating and withdrawing his lightsaber while calling his wand into his left hand at the same time. "Reptans funem!"

Harry wasn't quite sure what'd possessed him to use this particular spell. Especially as the yellow-white rope shot out from the end of his wand and wrapped itself around the dementor's neck, effectively connecting the two. "Shit!" Harry cursed as he held out his wand with two hands as the dementor's struggles nearly pulled it out of his grip. "Ginny! A little help if you could!"

"What are you doing Harry?" Ginny's voice rang in his ear as she cracked into existence right next to him. "Just blast the blighted thing already!"

"Questions later!" Harry shouted through gritted teeth as he struggled to hold onto the dementor. "Right now just give me a hand!"

Thankfully Ginny didn't ask any more questions as she raised her wand and used the same spell he did to grab hold of the dementor. "Bloody fucking hell!" Ginny cried as the dementor thrashed. "Right now would be a really go idea to tell me why we're going fishing for dementors Harry! Shite! I'm losing my grip Harry! We need to let it go now or-"

A shadow blocked Harry's vision as a man stepped up between Harry and Ginny. By the time Harry recognized the man as one of the Admiral's security detail, he had his hands holding onto Ginny's. "What's the plan here kid?" The older man asked, his eyes flickering back and forth between Harry, Ginny and the dementor. "From what I've read, usually you don't want these things hanging around."

Harry swallowed before turning his attention back fully to the dementor. "If we can capture it, we can study it and hopefully find a true way on how to kill these things!"  
The man hesitated for only a split second before nodding. "Works for me. Shepards! Get your asses over here and make yourselves useful already!"

Harry almost couldn't believe his eyes the young man and woman from the Admiral's security detail apparated into existence on either side of the dementor. Then, as if to drive the point home of just who they were, both drew wands out of their sleeves and used the exact same spell he and Ginny were using to grab hold of the dementor. "Now what?" The older man asked as he let go of Ginny's hands and stared up at the frantic dementor. "You four just going to hold onto it until you get where you need to go?"

"No." Harry shook his head before yelling, "Bring it down to the deck and hold on tight!"

Letting go of his spell, Harry ran forward towards the dementor as Ginny and the other two, Shepard he thought they were both called, slowly inched their way backwards so the dementor was forced towards the ground. When Harry got to the area where the dementor would be brought do too, he pointed his wand towards the ground and, after a few quick cutting charms, carved a rune into the tarmac. He repeated the process six times, and after completing the sixth the dementor was almost touching the ground in-between the six runes.

"Whatever you're going to do kid," the woman Shepard called out, her voice straining with the effort of keeping the dementor in place. "You better do it fucking fast!"

Pointing his wand towards nearest rune, Harry channeled as much power as he could into the runes. "Lapidem carcerem!"

Just like during the first task of the TriWizard Tournament, six pillars shot up from the six runes surrounding the dementor before coming together at a single point above its head. As soon as the six pillars connected, Harry slashed his wand across his body and transfigured them into durasteel and then widened the bars to the point where there was only an inch between each. "There…" Harry breathed, resting his hands on his knees as Ginny and the other two dropped their binding spells. "That…should hold. I hope."

"You're sure?" The older man who'd helped Ginny hold onto her wand asked tentatively as he stepped forward, his sidearm drawn and pointed towards the cage while the witch and wizard that'd been onboard slowly inched forward with their wands trained on the cage.

"As sure as I can be." Harry said, trying to sound sure of himself. "As far as I know, no one in recent memory has tried to capture a dementor so this is all guess work." 'Ahsoka. Have you guys taken care of everything within the ship?'

' _Yes_.' Ahsoka sent back after a moment's hesitation. ' _There were only two dementors down here. One succumb to a combination of mine and Master Kenobi's patronus charms. But the other has eluded us so far.'_

 _'I think I found your missing dementor.'_ Harry smirked as he spared a glance towards the cage. _'We managed to capture it_.'

'What did you just say? Did you just…no. Please tell me that I heard wrong.'

'No, you heard right. We captured your missing dementor.'

There was a long pause from Ahsoka, and Harry cringed mentally as he felt her growing rage. _'Harry James Potter! What the bloody hell were you thinking!?'_

Even Ginny cringed slightly before shooting him a look that promised retribution later. _'Easy Ahsoka. Ginny felt that one.'_

 _'Good! Maybe now you can explain to me why you thought it was a good idea to put lives at risk trying to capture one of these dark creatures.'_

 _'Because my mother wants to study them.'_ Harry answered simply. _'If she can find a way to kill them without needing a confined space and several patronus charms, then the risk of capturing one would be well worth it.'_

 _'Alright. You've got a point. But you and I are going to be having words about your recklessness Potter. Shit…now you've got me sounding like Master Kenobi! Oh, we are definitely having words later!'_

 _'Looking forward to it_.' Harry shook his head before noticing that the older man and the two young magicals had snapped to attention. Turning around slowly, he found himself staring right at Admiral Hackett, whose eyes were fixated on the cage. "You captured one of these…dementors?" Hackett asked stepping towards the cage to the point where he could see his own breath before stopping.

"Yes sir." Harry nodded, his back going straight as he gave the Admiral the respect that he was due. "My mother, Master Nox, wishes to study them sir. She believes that with time and a subject she could come up with a viable and permanent means of bringing an end to these monstrosities."

Ceasing his study of the cage, the Admiral turned towards him. "You think she can find a way to kill them? As far as I understand it, these things have been around since man learned how to write. Do you think your mother will succeed where so many others have failed?"

Harry didn't even hesitate. "Yes sir. She will."

The Admiral held his gaze for a long time. "Good." He said simply before turning his back on the dementor and marching away. "Major Ryder. Lieutenants Shepard."

"Yes sir!" The old man, Ryder, and the two Lieutenants shouted, snapping to attention.

"Pack your bags." He told them without breaking stride. "We leave with these…Guardians in half an hour."

* * *

Standing on a high perch overlooking the dozen cages below him, Darth Voldemort watched as Darth Nightshade boldly entered one of the cages completely without fear. The dragon within, a Romanian Longhorn, snarled and hissed loudly at the intrusion. But Nightshade simply held up her hand and the beast coward before her, backing into a corner as it tried to evade her touch. "My Lord Voice."

Without turning his head, Voldemort allowed his lips to upturn slightly. "Darth Bellatrix. What news do you have for me?"

The name sounded good to Voldemort. When he'd first broached the subject to his Emperor, he'd been afraid that the idea would be shot down immediately. Bellatrix was far too loyal to Voldemort after all. But to his utmost surprise, the Emperor had actually agreed to his request and not only granted Bella the title of Darth, something she truly deserved. But he'd gone one step further and granted her a full seat on the Dark Council.

His ever faithful servant bowed deeply to him before straightening. "My Lord, I bring news from Lucius regarding the emergency Wizanegmot session."

"And?" Voldemort pressed impatiently.

"Lucius and Dolores were unable to untie the magical community under our banner." Bellatrix reported without hesitation. "It seems that Amelia Bones made a last second appearance and managed to sway enough of the Wizanegmot to at least doubt our glorious order. One an interesting note however, Dumbledore reacted just as the Emperor predicted and agreed to the new ordinance to have all muggleborn and any half-blood children that live in the muggle world report to Hogwarts or else face expulsion from the school and excommunication from the magical world altogether."

"I see." Voldemort replied, turning his attention back down to Nightshade and the dragons.

Truthfully, he wasn't surprised by the news that they'd yet to gain the full cooperation of the magical world. Most of them were idiots who either couldn't or refused to see the threat that the muggles were. But soon they would. And soon the muggles would learn their place. At the feet of their betters.

"This outcome was expected." Voldemort continued as Nightshade held out her hand, creating a thick black vapor that connected her to the beast before her. "In time the fools will realize their folly and come begging at our feet for our protection."

"Of course they will my Lord." Bellatrix smiled as she joined him in watching Nightshade work. "My lord…if I may be so bold. What is she doing to those beasts?"

"Improving them my dear." Voldemort answered simply as they watched as the dragon gave off a pathetic cry and sunk in on itself as its scales began to blacken and new spikes began to protrude for its body.

Magic, or rather the Force as the Emperor insisted it be called, could do wonders to improve an individual. Especially the dark aspects of the Force. And as loath as he was to admit it, no one was better at using the Force, magic, to alter a person or beast than Nightshade. Not that he would ever say that out loud of course. "These were the dragons that Mortis intended to use in his little scheme, are they not my Lord?" Bellatrix asked, watching in awe as the dragon began expanding slightly under Nightshades continuing alterations.

"Yes they were." Voldemort confirmed, not bothering to hide his amusement.

Neither did Bellatrix as a wide smile crossed her lips. "The fool had no idea did he?"

Nightshade had finished her task. Where there had once been a Romanian Longhorn there was now a beast that truly was a force to be reckoned with. Nightshade had nearly doubled the beast's size. Five more long spikes were now lining its head along with the original horn which gave rise to the creature's name. Its scales were nearly pitch black in coloring and its eyes had a soft red glow to them. But more than that, Voldemort could almost feel the magic radiating off of the creature even from as far away as he and Bella were.

"No, he did not." Voldemort answered, shaking his head before turning back to his faithful Lieutenant. "And let that be a lesson to you Bella. The Emperor does not tolerate failure. And neither do I."

Bella didn't even blink before sinking down to her knee and bowing her head. "I vow to you my Lord. I will never fail my Emperor."


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey there everyone! I'm back! And I'm sorry about not updating sooner. But between problems all around and a general lack of muse...well its been difficult to write. I can't promise that I'm going to be keeping to my two week schedule any more, but I can promise that I am committed to finishing this story up. There are only about 4 chapters left in The Rise as well just to let you all know.**

 **Hope that you all like the chapter! Let me know what you all think please. And a big thank you to HowInMadHowie and DustanXenon for being my beta readers!**

 **Chapter 23**

* * *

Standing in the cargo hold of the Wolfsbane with Admiral Hackett and the men he'd brought with him, Harry was doing his best to remain impassive as Master Kenobi conversed with the experienced man and his second, Major Ryder. Along with the Major and the witch and wizard duo of Lieutenants Shepard, the Admiral also brought two Marine squads and one SEAL strike team to help with the Guardians' operations. Harry, for one, was grateful for the help that the Admiral was offering, especially as he promised to rally the US fleets that were still active once he was able to establish communication with them.

The soldiers with the Admiral however were less than pleased. Their displeasure at having to work with…well children was easily felt by Harry, Ahsoka, Ginny, Susan and Hermione. And if their feelings weren't indication enough of their displeasure, the sidelong looks that they kept shooting their way throughout the short trip from the Thirteenth Fleet to the Temple was.

"-mentioned that I and my men will have to submit to a security check before being allowed entry into this…Temple." Admiral Hackett was saying to Master Kenobi as Harry turned his attention onto the conversation. "I am curious as to what type of security check you will be running? I will not stand for anything intrusive."

"Nothing of the sort Admiral." Master Kenobi answered sincerely. "In fact, our security check should be arriving any moment now and you'll be able to judge for yourself."

A loud crack echoed within the hold of the Wolfsbane, making every soldier save for the Admiral and the Shepard twins to jump slightly and begin to raise their weapons. "Admiral," Master Kenobi nodded as he motioned towards the new arrivals. "May I introduce you to our security measure. This is Knight Daphne Greengrass and her Apprentice Luna Lovegood. Knight Greengrass, Apprentice Lovegood. This is Admiral Hackett and Major Ryder."

The Admiral, to his credit, didn't balk at the idea of a young woman being their idea of a security check. Neither did Ryder or the either Lieutenants. The same couldn't be said for most of the other men in the hold. Most of whom were twice the age of Harry and Daphne. "Kids…we're fighting with fucking kids." One muttered lowly, but still loudly enough for Harry to hear him.

"And that one has her arm in a sling." Another muttered back, nodding towards Daphne whose right arm was still in the process of healing fully after being severed clean off. "Probably broke a nail or something."

Unfortunately for the man, he either didn't realize or didn't care that he'd been speaking loud enough to be overheard by just about everyone in the room. Hackett snapped around, his cold eyes glaring at the man who spoke as said marine snapped to attention upon realizing he'd been heard. But before Hackett could reprimand him, Daphne calmly stepped past the Admiral and up to the man who'd spoken, stopping only when there was less than a few feet between them.

Daphne's ice blue eyes sized the man up before coming to a halt on the weapon that he was holding. "You best be careful with that." Daphne said calmly as she idly waved her left hand subtly across her body. "Wouldn't want you to get hurt."

The man blinked as Daphne turned her back on him and walked away, clearly confused as to what she'd meant. But her meaning became immediately clear as a hiss and rattle came from the man's hands. "What the fuck!" The man screamed, in a rather unmanly fashion, as he dropped and jumped back from the five foot rattlesnake he was holding instead of his weapon.

Hearing the scream, Daphne stopped and turned back around. Smirking at the clearly frightened man, Daphne calmly knelt down and held out her left arm. The rattlesnake stopped it's hissing and rattling long enough to slither over towards Daphne and coil around her arm. "As I said." Daphne smirked, raising the snake up to her lips and pressing a light kiss to the top of its head. "You best be careful."

There was a brief surge of the Force, and the snake disappeared as it was returned to its original form as a gun. Which Daphne set down on the floor before purposefully turning her back on both it and the man and marching back towards Harry and Master Kenobi.

"Wandless inanimate to animate transfiguration?" Harry mused loudly as she drew level with him. "Keep that up and you'll start making Hermione jealous Daphne."

"Well I had to do something to keep myself occupied while I'm recovering and you lot are all of playing hero." Daphne shrugged while shrugging her right shoulder. "And Luna…well she's been quite the dutiful pupil even while I'm incapacitated. I daresay that I got the best of the possible Apprentices."

"Hey!" Ginny and Hermione both shouted while Luna smiled.

"As interesting as this is," the Admiral coughed. "Perhaps we can get back to the matter at hand young lady. I take it that you are the one that I've heard about? The one they say can tell a person's true nature with just a single glance?"

"Yes sir." Daphne nodded, her back going straight as she pulled herself up to her full height. "And I'm already done sir. None of your men are Children of the Emperor nor do any of them have ties to the New Sith Order. Although those two over there are magical, quite powerful as well. She's better at charms however. But he outclasses her in just about everything related to transfiguration. But I'm sure that you already know that seeing as how they're on your security detail."

Hackett blinked and the men in the soldiers in the room all started sharing nervous glances with one another. The Shepard twins however just looked impressed. "That's pretty good girl." Jane Shepard smirked. "Was it legilimency? If so, then you must be a prodigy. My barriers didn't even register any type of intrusion at all."

"It wasn't legilimency." Daphne answered. "Similar in some respects I guess, but at the same time the two are night and day from one another. And it is something that cannot be taught unfortunately."

"Sounds useful." John Shepard nodded. "How does it work? Do you have to focus on an individual or is it more like passive legilmency or is it more like a passive empathic ability?"

Daphne's steps halted slightly as she turned and faced John. "More of the latter than anything. But it goes far deeper than just a simple brush of emotions. One of our Guardian Masters is a very talented and natural empathic. But even she is amazed by what I can do."

"Huh." John said eloquently while scratching his chin. "How deep into a person's subconscious can you go? I assume that is what you're scanning when you do…whatever it is that you do."

"Oh boy." Jane sighed as everyone in the room watched as John and Daphne continued to converse. "And there he goes. John's a natural with mind magic. A prodigy even. So to discover a type of mind magic that he hasn't even heard of before…it's going to take something drastic to pull him out of this conversation."

From the sidelines, Harry could only nod in agreement, although he was nodding in regards to Daphne. His friend's eyes had brightened considerably since she'd entered the ship and continued to get bright the longer the two talked. It was, to a degree, understandable. No one, not even Harry's mother truly understood Daphne's power. In fact, the only one who probably did understand or even had a clue as to how her powers might work was Daphne herself. So to suddenly find someone who could theorize on the same level as her…

"So…how do we stop them?" Harry asked with a nod towards the duo, who seemed to have completely blocked out everyone else save each other. A small part of him wondered if this was what he and Ahsoka were like when they were taking to one another. "As nice as this is…we will be arriving at our destination soon."

"Simple." Jane said with a slight grin. "Hey John…red satin mesh panties!"

"What?" John asked, his head snapping around and away from Daphne effectively ending their conversation. Everyone with the cargo hold busted out laughing, save for Master Kenobi and Admiral Hackett, who merely raised an eyebrow at the display.

Realizing what had just happened, John shook his head while Daphne's cheeks tinted ever so slightly red. "Ha ha, laugh it up sister." John grumbled, running a hand over the short dark stubble that covered his scalp. "Just remember, payback is a bitch. You wouldn't want what happened in our fifth year to get out now would you?"

Jane's face nearly turned the same color as her hair, although whether from anger or embarrassment Harry wasn't sure. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me sis."

"Lieutenants! That's enough!"

"Apologies sir!" The twins shouted, simultaneously jumping to attention facing the Admiral.

Off to the side, Harry had to suppress a grin as he watched Master Kenobi slowly shake his head. "Ah, youth. It's good to know that no matter where I go somethings never change." Feeling the ship tilt ever so slightly, Master Kenobi made his way towards the rear of the ship. "We are beginning our descent Admiral. We should be arriving any moment now."

As if to accent his point, the ship shuddered as it came to a complete stop. The rear hatch hissed loudly as the hydraulics engaged and the ramp slowly lowered. Light poured in from the opening as all of the soldiers the Admiral had brought with him snapped to attention as Hackett walked down the length of the ship until he was shoulder to shoulder with Master Kenobi.

Once the ramp had lowered fully, Harry stiffened slightly as he saw the three people, despite having already sensed them, that were waiting for them on the landing platform. The main reason for this was the not-so-subtle wave of approval that was emanating from his mother. 'I'm proud of you son.' His mother's voice spoke in his head as Master Kenobi and Hackett walked down the ramp with Harry and Ahsoka following a few steps behind. 'You managed to secure a great ally and you managed to capture a beast that hasn't been captured in hundreds of years. Well done son.'

"Admiral Hackett." The Prime Minister of Britain greeted, stepping forward. "It's good to see you again."

"You as well Minister." Hackett nodded. "I'm glad to see that the rumors of your death were exaggerated."

"So am I Admiral." The Minister nodded. "And I fear they would've been substantiated rumors if not for our new mutual friends here."

With the Valkyries following behind him, Harry walked around the Admiral and towards his mother and her Apprentice Astoria. As he turned back around to face the Admiral, Harry watched as Hackett's eyes shifted from the Prime Minister to his mother. "I see," Hackett nodded before stepping past the Minister and towards Harry's mother. "Ms. Nox…although I suppose that isn't your correct title is it?"

"No," Nox smirked, shaking her head. "Technically my title is Grand Master of the Guardian Order. But that is a bit of a mouthful so you can just keep referring to me as Nox. And this one beside me is my Apprentice, Astoria Greengrass."

"Wonderful…now we're fighting with children. Might as well throw in the towel now."

Harry was seriously starting to reconsider his opinion of the men that the Admiral had brought with him. Granted Harry and the other Knights and Apprentices were still young, but they weren't useless. Nox stared over Hackett's shoulder at the man who'd spoken. "They might be young, young man. But any one of them could still hand you your ass on a silver platter."

The man who'd spoken eyed Harry and the other younger members of the Guardians who were present wearily, but he didn't look convinced. "Only because of their…magic." He said with a note of finality. "If not for that, then they wouldn't stand a chance. But they're still children. I have a daughter older than that one by your side. And children don't belong on the battlefield. They're a liability."

One of Nox's delicate eyebrows arched. "You think so?" She asked before turning towards Astoria. "Astoria. Show them just how 'weak' you are. Just try not to cause too much damage."

"Yes Master." Astoria bowed before turning her attention fully to the man who'd mouthed off.

Astoria turned into a blur as she sped across the landing pad straight for the soldier. Before he even had time to react she'd already crossed the distance and her small fist as impacted into the man's gut. The soldier instantly doubled over and fell to the ground where he gasped deeply before losing all of the contents of his stomach.

"That's enough Astoria." Nox called out to her Apprentice, who immediately stopped her follow-up attack and retreated back. Walking forward, Nox stood over the gasping man and stared down at him blankly. "Still think that these…'children' are a liability?" She asked before turning on her heel. "Forgive that little display Admiral. But your men needed to learn that everyone here is a well-trained solider. No matter their age."

"I understand." Hackett nodded, as he watched impassively as two others helped the still gasping man up to his feet. "But this should not repeated. We are supposed to be allies here. And I will not stand for my men being made fools of."

Nox nodded her acceptance. "Of course. Now, one more thing. I need to introduce your men into our…custodians if you will. They will take your men to their quarters while you, I and the Prime Minister have a much overdue debriefing. You three can come out now."

The soldiers all started ever so slightly as the three house elves snapped into existence next to his Harry and his mother. "This is Winky, Dobby and Kreacher." His mother said, introducing the three house elves to the new comers. "And before any of you ask, yes they are house elves. However only Winky is bonded to the Temple. The other two are here to support their houses. They will take care of your needs while you're here. To summon them, you merely need to say their names. However, if I hear of any abusive behavior towards them…you will not like the consequences. Am I clear?"

"Yes ma'am!" All of the soldiers shouted, snapping to attention as they did.

"Good," Nox nodded. "And do try and stay away from the southeast tower. At least for now. That is where our resident Veela that've requested sanctuary and an alliance with us are staying."

"Veela?" Jane Shepard said, blinking and looking towards said tower. "Just how many Veela are we talking about here?"

"I'm not entirely sure, truth be told." Nox answered with a shrug. "But the entire French colony plus four other smaller colonies from around Europe. So quiet a few I imagine."

Jane's face blanched and John turned towards the southeast tower with a small smile growing across his face. "Well…I know where I'm heading during leave."

"Enough." Hackett said sharply, making all of the soldiers once again snap to attention. "Get yourselves situated and stowed away. Mission briefing will be at oh-six-hundred tomorrow morning. Dismissed."

"Yes sir!" All of the soldiers shouted, snapping to attention and saluting the Admiral before heading away after an energetic Dobby and Winky leaving only the Guardians, Kreacher and the Admiral on the landing platform.

"Harry," his mother said turning towards him. "Where is our…guest?"

"Still in the cargo hold mother." Harry answered.

The Admiral, while pleased that they had managed to capture the creature and thereby gaining the chance to find a weakness within them, had not been happy with how they went about transporting it. While the Stone Prison was capable of holding the dementor, it was still part of the carrier. So in order to move it, they had to use their lightsabers to cut a fairly decent size hold in the carrier under the Stone Prison to keep it intact.

"Good," Nox nodded before turning towards Kreacher. "See to it that it's brought down into the lower holding cells well away from everyone else Kreacher."

"Yes kind Mistress." Kreacher bowed before snapping his fingers and disappearing in small crack.

Now alone, Harry shared a sidelong look with Ahsoka and Ginny before turning back towards his mother. "What are our orders, mother?"

"For now, rest." Nox said, nodding towards the Admiral, Master Kenobi, General Rex and the Prime Minister to head into the Temple. Once all three men were well out of hearing, she turned back to him and placed her hands on his shoulders. "You've done well my son. With both the Admiral's and the Minister's help, we might just be able to slowly start turning this war around."

"I didn't really do anything mother." Harry responded sheepishly. "Master Kenobi was the one who talked him into coming with us."

"Perhaps." Nox nodded. "But your powers of observation are still just growing Harry. If they were at my level, you would've noticed that it wasn't Kenobi's words that truly convinced the Admiral to join us. Sure they helped. But it was your actions defending his ship and capturing something that no one thought could be captured that truly pushed him to us. So take a reprieve. All of you. This war is just beginning."

"Yes mother." Harry nodded with the girls echoing him with, "Yes Master."

"Oh, and Harry." His mother called out, bringing him to a stop as he and the others were walking towards the Temple. "Try not to spend your entire rest sucking Ahsoka's lips off. After all, both Ginny and Nat need some time training under their Masters."

Harry's face went red while Ahsoka's cheeks colored. "Shut up." Harry muttered, almost sprinting towards the Temple in an effort to escape the laughter from the girls and his mother that followed him.

* * *

The still air within Nox's office high within the Guardian Temple was abruptly startled as the lone bowl on her desk vibrated for a moment before half a dozen people emerged from its depths and were deposited onto the floor next to it as if by magic. Nox, Yoda, Obi-Wan and Sirius were completely unfazed by what they'd seen. But the same could not necessarily be said about the two that'd accompanied them. Hackett was holding his own, despite the slightly paler shade he'd turned. The Prime Minister however acted exactly as Sirius had when he'd first seen the memories by pouring himself a large stiff drink and taking it all down in one go.

"Good god." The Minsiter breathed as he helped himself to a second glass. "This…I– I can't…this is insane."

Hackett, who'd managed to hold himself together stoically through every memory that Nox had shown him, a combination of her own and Master Yoda's, hummed in agreement. "How do we know that these…memories are genuine?" He asked. "I admit that my understanding of magic is…limited to what has been explained to me by my Lieutenants. But from what I've been told, memories can be altered to suit a specific need."

"Serve no purpose, deceiving you in such a matter would now." Master Yoda commented, nimbly jumping up onto her desk before turning around and plopping himself down atop it. "Hard to accept, this knowledge is. Understand that, we do. But the truth it is, nonetheless."

Hackett stared at the diminutive Jedi Master unflinchingly for several long drawn out moments. Despite just learning that the little creature before was in fact an alien, the Admiral didn't even seem fazed in the slightest. Which was of course one of the many reasons why Nox had chosen Hackett over any of the other remaining high ranking officers. The man was renowned for being unflappable. "So…this Emperor Vitiate isn't just an ancient malevolent spirt. He's an ancient alien malevolent spirit. A spirit that you once served under Nox."

"That, was a long time ago Admiral." Nox admitted, unashamed of her past. With a subtle wave of her hand she pushed back her chair with the Force before sitting down in it. "And even when I was part of the Sith Empire, I did not agree with their policies or beliefs. Growing up a pleasure slave has a way of jading one towards the institution and leader that they encourages such a practice. I killed more Sith on my rise to the rank of Darth than most Jedi did during the war between the Empire and the Republic."

As the Minister began filling his third glass, Admiral Hackett snatched the glass out of his hand and sat down in the seat across from Nox and Yoda. "Let's say that we accept what we've seen in these memories as the truth."

"I assure you Admiral, they are." Nox said quickly.

"All the same," Hackett continued. "If what you've shown us is true. Then these…Jedi who are now helping us are enemies of this new Galactic Empire. Enemies that are currently being hunted down by forces that dwarf anything Earth could mobilize in terms of both man power and weaponry even if we weren't in the midst of a global civil war. Why should Earth paint a target on ourselves for such an advisory by continuing to provide shelter for all of you?"

"It is a valid question Admiral." Obi-Wan consented as he folded his hands into the arms of his robes. "And while our presence here might give Sidious an excuse to come here in force. The truth is this world is already a target for him because of its unique properties."

"Approximately .1 percent of Earth's population are magical Admiral." Nox continued on. "Which means that before this war started, there were approximately seven million magicals on the face of the Earth give or take a few thousand. Grand Master Yoda, just before the Jedi Purge how many Jedi were there in the whole of the 'known' galaxy?"

Master Yoda hummed slightly before sighing. "Few we were. Mere ten-thousand the Jedi were before the purge. Now…only several hundred of our brothers and sisters do I sense."

Hackett blinked curiously as the numbers went through his head.

"Earth is unique Admiral. In more ways than one." Nox explained, pressing onwards. "But what makes it of interest to the Galactic Empire, and Sidious specifically, is its unique resonance with the Force. Not even Korriban or Tython, homes of the Sith and Jedi respectfully, resonate with the Force as Earth does. And that is why there are so many Force sensitives, or rather magicals on your planet when compared to the rest of the galaxy."

"And that is why this…Sidious will come for us?" The Prime Minister stated, connecting the dots. "Because Earth is capable of producing more of…well…your people than anywhere else in the galaxy?"

"Yes." Nox nodded. "And if he cannot control Earth, he will destroy it. Hell…he might even destroy it out of principle seeing as how he's already brought the Jedi to the verge of extinction and put the delicate balance of the Force to the edge. One more push…and Force only knows what will happen. But as for why no one has found, or even sought out Earth yet, that question can be answered quite simply. No one even knew that Earth was around."

Leaning across her desk, Nox activated the holoprojector on her desk creating a display of the galaxy. "This is what was known as the 'known' galaxy. Now the Galactic Empire." Nox said as roughly two-thirds of the galaxy became illuminated for a brief second. "The other third here is the 'uncharted' regions of space. And here, deep within the uncharted regions is Earth."

"Mapping uncharted sections of the galaxy is incredibly dangerous and tedious." Obi-Wan explained as both the Admiral and the Minister stared up at the map. "The chances of finding this planet without a guide, like Master Nox had through the Force, would take a very long time. And then even after they found Earth it would still be years before any military or expedition force could make their way here as a hyperspace lane would need to be charted first."

"But this Emperor is a Sith, is he not?" Hackett asked, turning his eyes towards Nox. "Couldn't he find Earth in the same manner that you did?"

"In theory, yes." Nox nodded. "But at the moment, Earth is enshrouded in a veil of the Force making it impossible to find unless the Force wants it to be found. But the shroud is…failing. Why or how I do not know. But we have only a decade maybe less before the shroud is gone. And when it falls Sidious, if he's even half as powerful as I believe him to be, will sense Earth if even for a split second. And that second will be enough that if he enterers a deep state of mediation, he will be able to use what he sensed to find us. And then he'll send every ship available to try and plot a hyperspace lane right to our doorstep."

"And then he will either seek our subjugation or destruction according to you." Hackett finished for her.

Nox merely shrugged. "It's the way of the Sith. Either enslave or destroy anything that might prove a potential threat to you and your powerbase. And make no mistake gentlemen. This very world's existence is a threat to this Sith Emperor. He won't let it go, even if every magical or Force sensitive on the planet left."

Nox had a smirk on her face when she decided to drop another bombshell onto them, "Besides we've already made strides to get Earth into 'modern' age that is the galaxy at large. We have, successfully, built and tested a space worthy ship. I say tested because it has landed on an asteroid by Mars. You should know Admiral, you flew in it."

"This…Emperor Sidious maybe our enemy in the future," the Prime Minister said slowly as he broke the silence. "But even by your own estimation, we have years, maybe even decades until he comes for us. Perhaps it would be best if we focus the here and now. Namely this…cabal that is trying to tear the world apart."

"I agree." Nox nodded. "We've already given you everything that we know about them. Unfortunately, moving against them directly is almost impossible."

"Why?" The Minster asked looking genuinely curious.

"Because our adversary is as smart as they ruthless." Sirius spoke up for the first time. "Voldemort, or rather Vitiate I guess as he's the one that's pulling all the strings; has taken to making old magical manor houses into his bases of operation. Manors which are heavily warded and guarded by magical barriers up to and including the Fidelius. And it would take a team of the greatest curse breakers in the world to even disrupt those wards. And that's even assuming that we figured out just where those houses were. Oh, and before you think it would be as easy as capturing and interrogating someone, let me stop you. James and I tried that approach in the last war…when Dumbledore wasn't looking of course. And magic itself will protect whatever it is that is trying to be hidden. All you'll get from questioning someone about a certain location is headache."

"So we can't move against their base of operations." Hackett stated rather than asked. "So we fight this war through attrition. Take them out whenever they show themselves and cut off whatever aid they hope to receive."

"Pretty much." Nox nodded solemnly.

It wasn't the way that she wanted to fight this war. Not in the slightest. In truth, she wanted to take Asajj's approach and simply walk into the Wizanegmot and start assassinating everyone she knew to be a part of the New Sith Order. But that was not how she could do things. Not yet at least. For starters, war was a political nightmare. If she just went about and started offing everyone left and right, people would begin to fear her. And while some fear was good…she couldn't let her name become synonymous with fear. That was Vitiates role to play in this war. Not hers.

"An ugly way to fight a war. And costly." Hackett stated morosely. "I have some…friends that I might be able to reach out to for help. Although whether they'll actually help or hinder us is still debatable. But considering the state of things…even the promise of stability can become a beacon for hope."

"Then do so." Nox nodded. "The world is teettering on the brink of all-out war. There will be no clear sides once it starts. And we will need friends, a lot of friends or allies at least, to see the world put back to rights."

As the Admiral and the Minister nodded their agreement to her assessment, the door to her office opened, allowing one clearly irate Amelia Bones to walk in. She managed to get three steps into the office before finally noticing that Nox was not in alone. "Is this a bad time?"

"Not at all. Please, have a seat." Nox said, motioning for Amelia to take one of the empty chairs across for her even as Sirius rushed to her side to aid her. 'Typical male. Gets a woman pregnant and suddenly thinks that she can't do anything by herself.' "Amelia, this is Admiral Steven Hackett of the United States Navy. Admiral, this is Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for Britain and our liaison into the magical world."

"Ma'am." Hackett greeted, nodding his head.

"Admiral." Amelia nodded back before turning towards Nox. "Well…it could've gone worse. Not by much. But it could've."

"Let me guess," Nox sighed, letting her head fall back against her chair. "They've decided to put their fingers in their ears and bury their heads in the sand."

"Got it in one." Amelia sighed. "They were given the option of joining the fight on either side or staying neutral and sealing up the borders. The old fool pressed for neutrality and he won. Now Magical Britain is sealing itself away and I fear that this trend will continue throughout other magical communities."

"They will regret such a decision in time." Admiral Hackett stated plainly.

"More than likely." Nox nodded grimly. "The only question is, how many innocents will have to die before they actually come to regret their decision?" Grabbing the clear crystal that was on the corner of her desk, Nox used the Force to lift the crystal a few inches into the air before she started slowly spinning it around in a tight circle. It was a calming exercise that she'd found herself doing more and more often as of late. "Was there anything else?"

"Yes, unfortunately." Amelia spat. "The Ministry, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to recall all muggleborn students that are of age back to Hogwarts. Failure to do so will be penalized with expulsion, snapping of their wand and sealing of their magic."

"What?" Sirius balked. "Why would– who– those bloody fucking morons. They're tearing families apart!"

"Of course they are. But they don't care Sirius." Amelia sighed. "I tried to argue that very point, as did Madam Longbottom, and you know how she can get once she gets on a roll. But they didn't care. All that they care about is the 'safety of the magical realm'. As the old coot put it anyway."

"Such…insolence." The Prime Minister seethed. "Apologies to you Madam Bones…but I see now we've allowed the magical communities too much laxation in terms of the letter of the law. We'll have to rectify that once this war is over."

"We will be rectifying a lot after this war is done Prime Minister." Nox stated as she stared at Amelia, a dreadful suspicion beginning to take hold in her mind. "Tell me Amelia. Who was it that proposed this action first?"

"That is the really surprising aspect of all of this nonsense." Amelia grunted. "It was Lucius Malfoy of all people who put this suggestion forth in its entirety."

That surprised Nox more than she cared to admit. 'Why would he…unless…oh. Of course he would.' "Why would Malfoy of all people want to protect the muggleborns?" Sirius asked out loud, giving voice to everyone's thoughts who knew Malfoy.

"This…Lucius Malfoy you're speaking of," Hackett said slowly. "He is one of these supporters of the New Sith Regime is he not?"

"Yes." Sirius nodded, scratching at his beard. "But him working to protect the muggleborns? That just doesn't make sense. He's more of the 'I'm better than you because my parents are incredibly inbred' sort of arsehole."

"It wasn't his idea." Nox stated, drawing everyone's attention back to her. "This is part of the reason why I haven't just started assassinating everyone we know is in league with Vitiate. Better the devil that you know. We know that Lucius would never willingly try and protect the muggleborns, yet here he is doing exactly that. Which means it wasn't his idea. Rather it was Vitiate's idea."

"Vitiate?" Sirius asked. "Why would he care? Does he want as many magicals to survive this war as possible or something?"

"No." Nox replied, shaking her head. "Vitiate wouldn't care about who lives and dies. And in truth, it's against the very nature of the Sith to try and save the weak. The trials of Korriban were designed specifically to weed out the weak from the strong. Hell, I killed two Acolytes before I had my first meal on that rock."

"So," Sirius said slowly. "If he isn't trying to save lives, then why would he have Lucius act completely uncharacteristically to save as many lives as possible?"

The room went quiet as her guests tried to sort the puzzle out in their minds. Unsurprisingly, at least to Nox, Amelia was the first one to come to the same conclusion that Nox had. "There is a Child of the Emperor amongst the muggleborn, isn't there?"

"It would be a safe bet." Nox nodded, to which the three men in the room turned towards her with puzzled looks on their faces. "We already know that Vitiate, or Voldemort, was planning on using a set a Vanishing Cabinets that would be smuggled into the school by Draco Malfoy in order to bypass the schools magical barriers. It would make sense that, seeing as how that plan has officially failed, that he would try and find another way to bypass the barriers."

"But why?" The Prime Minsiter asked. "It seems like a lot of work for a school of all places. I would think he would be much more interested in taking over and holding the Ministry of Magic."

"One would think, but they would be wrong." Nox countered. "This Temple is built on the juncture of three magical ley lines. Because of this the wards and barriers are powered directly by those lines making them next to impossible to break through. Hogwarts however…that castle sits on the juncture of five magical ley lines." She paused, letting that sink in. "With his knowledge in that location, Vitiate could create barriers so strong that you could drop every nuke in your arsenal atop of him and all you would accomplish is giving him a slight sun tan."

"Wonderful." Hackett sighed. "Is there a way that we can send one of your own back into the school to prevent whatever he is planning?"

Sirius rubbed his chin in thought, "You know there is a way into Hogwarts I doubt many people know save for few that can be entered from Hogsmead." This comment drew the attention of everyone in the room. "It's not widely known but there is a tunnel from base of the Whomping Willow that goes into the Shrieking Shack. I know it because Remus had to use it during his years at Hogwarts."

"Wouldn't Pettigrew have told Voldemort this?" Amelia asked.

"Unlikely." Nox shook her head. "If Voldemort knew he would not have to use this method. Even so this tunnel would take time to get into the grounds and the castle itself. No we need a more faster method. I may have a way but I will need to look into it. We'll reserve the tunnel as a backup however. To answer your question Admiral It would be possible yes, but I'm not going to ask either Harry or the Valkyries to head back to that school." Nox stated firmly. "They didn't leave on the best of terms. And let's just leave it at that. But…they're might be a way we can cross through the barriers without having to send any of our own into the school at the beginning of the year." Harry would have to begin practicing immediately…but she was sure that her son would be up for the challenge.

* * *

Staring up at the tent canvas above him, Colin Creevey rubbed his hand through his hair as he tried once again to go to sleep. But even as he closed his eyes, he knew it was pointless. In truth, he hadn't really slept more than a few hours ever since Harry and the others all left Hogwarts in what was probably the most dramatic exit in history.

He'd always thought of Harry as a hero. There was no denying that. But…watching Harry effortless kill one of their fellow students without even showing the slightest bit of remorse. It shattered the pedestal that he'd placed the Boy-Who-Lived upon. Sure that Slytherin was about to cast some sort of spell on Harry…but did he really need to kill him? And that sword of light that he used. Where did he get such a weapon? Or the better question, how long had he been carrying it around with him during the school year?

But then his speech he gave everyone upon leaving…it'd confused him and sacred him. A war was starting up again and Harry stated categorically that he was going to fight against the Death Eaters. And then they'd left. In a muggle craft that was straight out of a science fiction novel.

As soon as they were gone, Dumbledore wasted no time in assuring all of the students that there was no war going on. And that there were no Death Eaters of a Dark Lord to worry about. But despite the Headmaster's assurances, everyone in the castle kept a warry eye on the Slytherins for the rest of the year.

His parents, predictably enough, wanted to pull him and his brother from the school as soon as they told them about what happened at the end of year. But after no small amount of pleading from both Colin and his brother, they managed to ware their parents down and they would both be returning to Hogwarts at the end of August. And as summer slowly progressed and he spent time with his family, Colin started to slowly forget about what happened at the end of the year and Harry's warning of a war.

It wasn't until the nearly a month into the summer holidays that Colin discovered just how stupid he was to ignore Harry's warnings. His family had, keyword had, a very nice home out the outskirts of London. But now it was nothing more than a pile of burnt ash. He didn't even remember what'd happened. All he remembered was that he was enjoying a breakfast with his family and then the next moment the Creevey house was on fire. And not just any fire either. Wizard fire.

He didn't even have time to grab his wand before the fire had started to consume almost the entirety of the house. He and his brother just barely managed to grab their wands before they were yanked out of the house by his parents. But then they were out of the frying pan and into the fire so to say. Their entire neighborhood was aflame as witches and wizards wearing bone masks were running all around casting spell after spell trying to do as much damage as possible.

He didn't really remember what happened next. All he remembered was seeing a sickly green curse, which he recognized later was the killing curse, strike one of his neighbors down and then he was running with his family. He didn't remember how long or for how long they ran, he just remembered running. At one point his brother tripped and hurt himself, but his father just simply picked him up and carried him as they continued to run. And now, over a week of wandering around here they were. In a football stadium outside of London that'd been converted into a semi-refugee camp filled with hundreds of tents and even more people. It was cramped. Dirty. Loud during the day and night. But it was better than being outside the stadium where riots, looting and fighting were starting to become common place. Which was something he…wanted to avoid.

 _'Coward_.' Colin cursed himself as he rolled over and punched the ground beneath his sleeping bag. ' _Harry wouldn't have just run away. He would've stood his ground and fought against the Death Eaters. Restrictions of Underage Magic be damned. He wouldn't have let all of those people die. He would've fought. And what did I do? I ran. Like a bloody coward. And now here I am…hiding like a coward. I'm…I'm no Gryffindor.'_

Giving up on sleeping, for the third night in a row, Colin sat up and looked around the small tent he and his family had been provided by the relief workers. He was pressed up against one side of the tent. His mother and younger brother were in the middle of the tent, with his brother sleeping curled up into his mother's side. And his father was against the other side of the tent.

Making sure that all three of them were still sound asleep, Colin sat upright before reaching under his pillow he felt for the long slim box that held his wand. It was too dangerous to for him to cast magic at the moment; not only because of the Restriction against Underage Magic, but also because word had gotten around between the muggles that not only did magic exist, but its practitioners were the cause behind the recent attacks. Just two days ago, a woman had been beaten bloody because rumor had gotten around that she was a witch. She wasn't of course. But the fear alone drove the people to attack her. But despite the danger of showing the potential for magic…just holding his wand was a comfort.

"That should be put away Colin. We can't afford for anyone to find out just what you and your brother can do."

Jumping slightly, Colin hurried to put his wand back in its case. "Sorry Dad." He muttered, pushing the case back under his pillow.

Sitting up in the dark, his father turned on the torch he had by his bed space, illuminating the interior of the tent. His mother and little brother both groaned, but otherwise stayed asleep. With a nod of his head, his father unzipped the tent entrance and stepped out with Colin following right behind him. Outside the tent was like stepping into a tent city. Hundreds of tents were pitched throughout the grass field and there were even some up on the flatter areas of the bleachers.

His father turned and started walking towards where Colin knew the bathrooms were located, leaving him to hurry after him. Once they were off of the field and into one of the tunnels beneath the bleachers, his father stopped and, after looking around to make sure that they were alone, knelt down in front of him. "There was nothing that you could've done son." His father said, placing his free hand on his shoulder.

"Yes there was." Colin said sadly. "I could've…done something. I should've done something. I– I should've listened to Harry at the end of the year. I– I was such a fool. Worse yet, I'm a coward. People where dying all around us and all I could do was-"

"Colin, stop." His father said forcefully. "You were not the only one to run away that day. We all did. But what could we have done? If you'd…used your tricks they would've targeted you. Running away to live another day isn't cowardice son. So don't think for a moment that you are a coward."

Colin still didn't feel right, but he couldn't help but feel slightly better than he had. "Thanks Dad– oh shite. What is that doing here!?"

Before his father could berate him for his language, a high pitched screech came from just behind him as an owl dropped out of the night sky and landed right next to the two of them. Clutch in its talons was a large envelope that had a large 'H' scrawled across the front.

Snatching the letter from the owl, he quickly looked around to make sure that no one had seen the owl land. "Thank you, now go, quickly! Before someone sees you!"

The owl however didn't move. It merely stared at him as if suddenly offended before squawking loudly again. "I don't have anything to give you!" Colin hissed, looking around. "Now get out of here before you get us both hurt you stupid bird!"

The owl huffed and gave off one another loud squawk before spreading its wings flying away. "Bloody idiots." His father cursed as Colin turned the letter over in his hands. "With everything going on and people suddenly afraid of anything and everything to do with magic, and they still send letters with bloody birds. Idiots the lot of them. Well, what do they want now?"

Opening the letter, Colin took the torch from his father and held it steady so that he could read what'd been sent to him. By the time he reached the bottom of the letter, he was sure that it was a joke of some kind. But after reading through the letter three more times, he was convinced that it wasn't. "They…they're recalling all muggleborns back to Hogwarts."

"What?" His father asked, all but ripping the letter out of his hands. "Unbelievable." His father muttered as he read through the letter. "You have to go back…or you'll not only be expelled but your magic will be sealed and your memories of Hogwarts erased? They'd be taking years off of your life!"

"They'll do it." Colin sighed. "Harry and the others…Hermione especially. They've always been suspicious of the magical government and how they handle the muggleborns. If they think that we're a threat to their security…they'll remove us. Either figuratively or literally."

"Bloody hell." His father breathed heavily, handing the letter back to him and leaning up against the tunnel wall. After several minutes of uncomfortable silence his father looked at him once more. "I'm counting on you to look after your brother while you two are there."

"What?"

"You heard me." His father said seriously. "I want you to look after your brother while you two are at the bloody school of yours."

"But– what–"

"Colin." His father sighed, kneeling down next to him. "You've seen what it's like out there. It's chaos. Pure and simple. And…and you've seen how people are starting to react to those even rumored to have magical abilities. Your mother and I were already discussing leaving this place behind to keep you boys safe, but we simply didn't know where to go. But this…this gives you a chance to be safe."

Licking his lips, Colin tried in vain to fight against the tears threatening to fall from his eyes. "But…but what about you and Mum?"

"We'll be fine kiddo." His father smiled, although even Colin could tell that it was strained. "But more importantly…you'll be safe. And that is all that matters to your mother and I."

Unable to help himself, Colin launched himself forward and wrapped his arms around his dad's shoulders. "You'll be alright son." His father whispered to him as he returned his embrace. "We'll all make it through this."

* * *

Standing beside the other Hogwarts Professors within the Great Hall of Hogwarts, Dumbledore watched with a smile on his face as groups of muggleborn students began appearing in the midst of the hall via the portkey. He couldn't help but notice that more than a few of them not in the best of shape. Be it their robes in tatters or, in the case of a few, bandaged. He would have to make sure that Madam Pomfrey got around to check on those students. But there was one thing that was sorely lacking amongst the students. And that was the cheer and wonder that he was used to seeing at the beginning of the school year.

Once the last of the students had been deposited into the Great Hall, Dumbledore rose to his feet and spread his arms wide. "Welcome back to Hogwarts everyone. I am heartened to see so many of you have decided to return." He said joyfully. "Please feel free to sit wherever you wish. This is not a formal feast so house tables will not be enforced. And once we are all fed and comfortable I will explain what we will be going over this summer while you are staying with us." With a mighty clap of his hands, food from the kitchens appeared upon all of the tables.

Taking his seat, he watched as the muggleborn students slowly moved towards their tables and sat down. But instead of digging into their food with gusto like he was used to seeing, the students merely picked lightly at the offered food. That was if they even took any food in the first place. 'It is good that we got them away from the war as soon as we did.' Dumbledore thought, watching as the students quietly conversed with one another. 'Children should not be subjected to war. And Hogwarts is the only safe place for them now. If only I could've brought the pureblood and half-blood students back as well. But they have the protection of their parents and don't require my own.'

"I haven't seen such sorrow in a long time Albus."

Picking up his goblet, he took a slight drink of pumpkin juice while nodding. "Indeed Minerva. I fear this…war has been hard on them. But now we can shelter and protect like they need."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Minerva's cat like eyes narrow significantly. "It isn't just the war Albus. A war we have done nothing to stop despite the countless chances and warnings we've received over the years. No. We tore these children away from their families and forced them back into a world that looks down on them just for having non-magical parents."

Dumbledore's brow furrowed. "They are safer here Minerva." He reprimanded her. "We cannot protect them and our world if they remained in the muggle world."

"Aye, perhaps." Minerva nodded. "But they need their families. Now more than ever. Not a world that looks down on them just because their parents were not magical. Mark my words Albus…you've made a mistake by forcing these children back here and away from their families."

Turning his attention back to the students, a small part of him couldn't help but feel that she was right. He didn't need to be skilled in legilemency to sense the sorrow within the students. Sorrow that he has helped to aggravate by tearing them away from their families. _'Perhaps Minerva is right.'_ He sighed to himself as he leaned back and used his passive legilemency to feel the aura of the room. _'Perhaps I truly did…make a mistake.'_

As soon as the thought entered his head he immediately shook it out. 'No. I wasn't wrong. These children need to be protected at all costs! They could've been hurt if left on their own. Worse yet, if they'd been left in the muggle world they might've actually started to side with the muggles and work to undermine the magical worlds way of life. A way of life that has sustained us for so long. Yes. I did the right thing by bringing them all here. Minerva and everyone else will see that in time.'

* * *

Deep within the Guardian Temple within the Watefall room, Harry laid on his side in the grass as he stared up at the cascading water above him. Despite the cool air within the room, he wasn't cold at all. Part of that was his Force training, which had included instructions on how to basically ignore the outside temperature no matter whether it was hot or cold. But the true reason he wasn't chilled as the warm body that had her back pressed up against his chest while she slept soundly.

For Harry, this was one of the moments that he cherished most. The brief moments when he either wasn't with Ginny training her or out on operation of some sort. When it was just Ahsoka and himself, there was no war outside threatening to kill everyone and everything. There was only the two of them. And he quickly come to recognize how fleeting these moments were. So he made sure that each time the two of them had a moment to themselves, he made it worthwhile to the point where he could power a dozen Patronus Charms with the mere memory.

Moving slowly so that he didn't disturb her rest, Harry careful extracted his arm out from underneath Ahsoka's head and moved back slowly. Her face scrunched up slightly at his movement, but her eyes didn't open as she rolled onto her back and kept sleeping. _'Good_ ,' Harry thought, smiling as he stared down at her peaceful face. ' _She needs her sleep. We all do. Especially after everything that we've been through so far.'_

The war had been dragging on for weeks now summer was coming to and the air around the Temple had started to gain a noticeable chill to it. Things had diffidently improved ever since they'd managed to get Admiral Hackett and what remained of the loyal US military forces on their side. Soon after the remnants of the British military, with the help of the Prime Minister, joined in with their efforts as well. Hackett even managed to get part so the Russian military on their side by convincing one of their Generals to side with them, although how he managed to do that remained a mystery to just about everyone.

Under normal circumstances such an alliance would be able to combat quite a bit. But the problem with this war was simply that there were no clear lines. Civil war was running rampart throughout the entire world. Countries were fractured beyond belief. Old hatreds long thought cooled had been encouraged to the point where they were now all anyone thought about. Some of the smaller countries had even gone so far as to band together and form an alliance of sorts. It didn't take a genius to figure out that those countries were under the thumb of Vitiate, especially considering the sigil they'd taken to represent their alliance was the Sith emblem of old. But considering those few countries were suddenly targeted less and less frequently by the dementors and attacks in general, whispers had begun to spread about others possibly joining up for protection.

And such problems weren't just isolated to the non-magical side of the war either. The magical governments had all been fractured and most were in open rebellion from their countries of origin. In short…the world was a complete mess. The only communities that'd managed to avoid open war so far are the few, like Britain, that'd chosen isolation rather than confrontation. And so because of the constant infighting between people, instead of being able to attack their enemy, the Sith, head on as many wanted too. The Guardians and their allies were delegated to damage control and pacification.

The dementors would attack a village and the Guardians would respond by repelling them. The Children would plan an attack somewhere, and Veela spies that'd incorporated themselves into the world would report the impending attack to Nox and Hackett and Rex would plan accordingly to counter the attack. In short, the only one who was winning in this war was death. And the death toll was counting ever upwards without any indication of slowing down anytime soon.

One of the few good things that had happened over the past few weeks had been finalized just a few days ago when Nox presented all of the Apprentices who did not yet have a lightsaber with a kyber crystal. They were all synth crystals, so they maintained their distinctive red appearance, much to the chagrin of the former Jedi in their ranks. But until they were able to make a prolonged voyage to Odessan, this was the best that they could do. At least now every member of the Guardian Order had a lightsaber to help turn the tides of battle to their favor.

"Harry?"

Turning his head, he saw that Ahsoka had turned over fully and her eyes, half open as they were, were staring up at him. "Hey," he said softly, leaning down and pressing a light kiss to her lips. "I tried not to wake you."

"You didn't." Ahsoka smiled. "The chill did…I fear I lost my nice warm blanket."

Before he could question what she meant, her hand latched onto his arm and she twisted away, using the momentum to pull him down so that his front was pressed against her back once more and his arm was wrapped around her slim waist. "There," she murmured, pressing herself against him. "That's much better. So…are you going to tell me what is more interesting than me being snuggled into your side?"

There was no point in denying it. She was in his head, literally and figuratively. "The war. It just…it just feels like we're going nowhere. We take one step, then have to take one back. The Sith push us back two more and then we leap forward three only to get knocked back a step. It's just…it's never ending. The only thing that happening is that people are dying. A lot of people."

"It's war Harry." Ahsoka said softly, turning around in his arms so that they were face to face. "It's never pretty. Nor is it easy. The Clone Wars lasted for nearly three years and I was on the front lines for almost all of it."

"My girlfriend, the war veteran." Harry smiled lightly as he rested his forehead against hers and let out a long sigh. "But it's not just this war. Even when we win…we'll have an even larger war looming in the distance when we're revealed to the Galactic Empire."

"But we won't be alone in that war Harry." Ahsoka said confidently. "I know for a fact there are quite a few worlds out in the galaxy that won't be happy with a 'Galactic Empire'. Actually, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if those same worlds haven't already banded together to form a rebellion or, Force forbid, another Separatist movement."

"I hope so." Harry sighed, cursing himself for ruining their moment of peace with his thoughts on the war.

 _'Don't worry about it Harry._ ' Ahsoka's voice rang in his head as she placed a hand on his chest. ' _You're worried. I know you are. And truth be told…so am I. But right now…just…try and relax. I know from experience Harry…these moments of peace during war are few and far between.'_

Closing his eyes, Harry tried to empty his mind of all thoughts and instead focused solely on the feel of Ahsoka in his arms. Her warm breath on his skin. Her fingers lightly running through his hair. _'What would I do without you?'_ He asked her, not bothering to open his eyes, preferring instead to just enjoy the feel of her with his other senses.

"Probably go completely insane." Ahsoka joked offhandedly. "Either that or keel over from stress."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Ahsoka." Harry smirked, opening his eyes and meeting her own.

"You're welcome." She responded cheerfully before closing the distance between the two of them and lightly pressing her lips against his own.

A steady heat grew within both of their chests as their kiss deepened. Soon enough, Ahsoka had pushed him onto his back and was straddling his hips as her tongue lightly danced against his. "Force." Ahsoka breathed as the need for air drew the two of them apart. "No wonder the Jedi frowned on relationships…no Learner or Padawan would be able to concentrate on their lessons if they knew just how good this was!"

Harry wasn't even able to put in his own two knuts before her lips descended upon him again, and once that happened any hope for coherent thought went out the window. Especially once his girlfriend started grinding her hips against his own.

Without warning, Ahsoka pulled back from him, her face flush and her breath coming in and out in short bursts. "So…what do you think Master Secura will find at this mystery location Mortis gave us before he kicked the bucket?"

"Bloody hell Ahsoka!" Harry growled, letting his head drop back against the grass. "We're…well you know. And now you ask me to think?" _'Not all of the blood is in my head!'_

 _'Oh, I know_.' Ahsoka thought back, making Harry's eyes shot open and stare up at her.

 _'Shite…I really did not mean to actually think that thought.'_

"Oh, I don't mind." Ahsoka smiled, before she rolled her hips slightly making Harry groan. "I consider it quite a…compliment actually."

"Bloody hell…you've been spending too much time with my mother and Tonks!" Harry shouted as Ahsoka continued her slow torture.

"Think of this as good mental practice." Ahsoka continued on, both with her words and her rolling hips. Although he was glad to note that her voice was slightly off kilter. "Now…what do you think Master Secura…will find?"

"I don't know." Harry answered honestly, trying to keep his mind off of the more than pleasant feelings Ahsoka was causing within him. "But it's something the Emperor wants…so of course we're going to take it from him."

"Well duh." Ahsoka smirked as she leaned down closer to him. "But what do you think-"

Taking advantage of the situation, Harry flipped the two of them over so that he was now the one on top instead of her. "Why don't I ask you the same question?" Harry breathed in her ear as he lightly attacked the small spot where her neck and shoulder met. The one spot he knew always drove her insane. "What do you think Master Secura will find?"

"Don't…care…" Ahsoka moaned as her fingers tightened in his hair. "Just…don't…bloody…fucking…stop."

* * *

Holding onto the handles within the LAAT, Master Aayla Secura watched out the forward window as the land flew past them as they made their way towards their destination. This mission was…definitely outside of the norm from what she'd, and the rest of the Je– Guardians, had been doing so far during this war. They weren't out to protect a city or respond to an attack. Instead, they were to investigate something for Grand Master Nox. A location that'd been given to them by Mortis just before the Grand Master had sent him on into the Force.

"Master? Are you alright?"

Looking over her shoulder, she spied her Apprentice, Hannah, standing just off to her left and behind her. "I'm fine Hannah." She answered honestly. "But I…sense something strange. I cannot quite place it and that…vexes me. As much as it shames me to admit that."

A year ago she would've never allowed for herself to become vexed over an odd feeling from the Force. The Jedi Code did not allow for such thinking. And after her time in as a slave…well she kept a tight control over herself. A side effect of not having control over one's self for a time. But now…now it actually felt good to admit that she was disturbed and not have to endure judging looks from her comrades.

"What is it Master?" Hannah asked. "What do you sense?"

Instead of answering, Aayla turned fully and looked at her Apprentice full on. "Close your eyes Hannah. Stretch out with your feelings and embrace the Force but do not try and control it. Focus on our mission here today and let the Force guide you where it may."

Taking a deep breath, Aayla felt it as her young Apprentice closed her eyes and reached out with her senses. "I sense…nervousness and anxiety and a sense of…contentment? How is that possible Master?"

"Because you need to learn how to separate out what you are sensing from the Force young one." Aayla replied not unkindly, before reaching out and placing a comforting hand on her Apprentice's shoulder. "Don't worry Hannah. You're still young and you still have much to learn yet."

"Master Secura," the pilot called out over his shoulder. "We're three minutes out from our destination."

"Thank you pilot." Aayla called back as she gave Hannah one last nod of encouragement before turning around and facing the others who were assigned to this mission with them.

While she did have some reservations at first, considering the still relative primitive nature of Earth, she had to admit that the soldiers on this world were incredibly well trained. And the six that were accompanying them, a squad of five with the female Lieutenant Shepard tagging alone, were some of the best trained troops that she'd ever led. And that included her time on the front lines during the Clone Wars.

Catching Jane Shepard's eye, the human mage nodded as she rose to her feet. "Alright boys, listen up!" The Lieutant shouted, bringing the other five men to attention. "The boss lady has our briefing for this mission. They're all yours Master Secura."

"Thank you Lieutenant." Aayla nodded to the Lieutenant as she pulled out her small handheld holoprojector. The small device came to life and a representation of a plain looking building appeared floating just above her hand. "This is our target. It's a small warehouse located far away from any signs of civilization. Our satellites have been watching this location for over a week now and we have yet to see anyone enter or leave the building. Thermal imaging has failed to reveal anything about the warehouse, leading us to believe that it's currently under a magical ward. Which means that it is more than likely still manned within."

Manipulating the projector with her fingers, she zoomed out so that the immediate area surrounding the structure was also depicted. "We'll be landing here," she said, as a small red dot appeared in a small clearing in the middle of a heavily wooded area roughly a klick away from the building. "According to our scans, this area should be outside any wards or magical boundaries. From there we proceed on foot. Myself, Liuetenant Shepard and Apprentice Abbott will work to detect and disable any magical traps or wards on our approach. Once we've breeched the building I'll be taking point. Apprentice Abbott will be in the center of the formation and the Lieutenant will take the rearguard. Our objective here is simple. We're to find whatever the New Sith Order is hiding here and either destroy it, or if possible turn it against the Sith. Any questions?"

"How much resistance can we count on encountering once we're inside ma'am?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Unknown." Aayla responded almost immediately. "As I said, we haven't spotted anyone coming or going from the facility. However with apparation and portkeys they could be arriving directly into the interior of the building. But expected resistance. The Emperor is hiding something here. Something valuable. And he won't give it up without a fight."

"Rules of engagement ma'am?" Another asked.

"You have blasters with stun settings on them." Aayla countered back. "Use them and assume hostilities. If they start throwing spells back at us, switch to lethal force and exercise extreme prejudice. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am!"

Feeling the ship start to tilt forward, Aayla instinctively reached up and grabbed hold of the support struts lining the interior of the LAAT as they made their way down towards the ground. The side doors opened silently as the shuttle neared the ground, and her squad, including Hannah and Jane, jumped out and immediately spread themselves out as they checked for any opposition as the LAAT lifted off immediately once more leaving them alone in the small field.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, Aayla immediately reached out with her senses while keeping an eye on the surrounding woods. Sensing no other lifeforms around, which in and of itself was strange as she couldn't even sense the presence of the local wildlife, she motioned with her hand for her squad to move forward. With barely a sound, Aayla and her squad moved into the woods and began their slow trek towards the facility with the soldiers in the front and Aayla and Hannah pulling up the rear guard.

"This is…odd Master." Hannah said softly as the two of them walked side by side through the thick foliage.

"In what way Hannah?" She asked as the two of them ducked underneath a partially fallen tree.

"It's…quiet." Hannah said tentatively as she looked around, one hand resting on the lightsaber attached to her hip. "Too quiet. No birds. No small animals. Nothing. It's…strange."

"You're right Apprentice. This forest is far too quiet. Which means that something, or someone, has scared away the local wildlife." Aayla nodded.

Ahead of them, Shepard's arm suddenly shot up into the air, signaling for them all to stop moving before quickly following the motion up with a signal for everyone to take cover. Motioning for Hannah to follow her Aayla went past the soldiers, all of who had sunk down to one knee and had their weapons raised, and up to Shepard's side. As they got closer, Aayla could sense…something from the Force. But it was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. "What is it Lieutenant?" She asked as the two reached the kneeling Lieutenant.

The Lieutenant didn't acknowledge her, instead the young woman lowered her blaster and brought out her wand. Moving her wand in an intricate pattern, Jane created a light wave of glowing dust that slowly drifted forward before settling onto some sort of invisible barrier. "Well, it looks like they didn't leave this place undefended." The Lieutenant scoffed as her wand continued to move about in slow circles. "Oh…now that's just nasty."

Staring at ground Shepard was kneeling before, Aayla noticed that there was a thin line of death that was running across the ground. Reaching out with the Force, Aayla nearly blinked at the strange barrier that she hadn't sensed until till just then. "What type of barrier is this?" She asked, turning her attention away from the strange barrier and towards Jane.

"It's not one that is widely used." The Lieutenant explained as she picked up a stick from the ground and lightly tossed it forwards. The moment the branch contacted the barrier it simply…decomposed. "It breaks down all organic matter that touches it. It's incredibly hard to detect and incredibly dangerous to both those it's trying to keep out and those it's trying to protect."

Staring at the invisible barrier before them, Aayla gently probed at the barrier with the Force. "Can you take it down?" She asked. While John Shepard had proven to be incredibly gifted with mind arts, rivaling Aayla herself but not quite up too Daphne's level, Jane had proven herself to be Curse Breaker that was even more capable than Bill Weasley.

"Give me enough time and two fifths of whiskey, yeah I could take it down." Jane nodded as she backed away from the barrier line. "But the moment it went down, whoever put it up will know. And seeing as how we're still half a klick away from the target, they'd be long gone before we could get to them."

"So how do we bypass it without alerting its creator to our presence?" Aayla asked as Jane looked around the immediate area.

Jane didn't answer her as she continued staring at the ground. "Ah…here we are." She said, kneeling down and picking up a fist size rock before passing her wand over it. "This barrier, while incredibly insidious, has a major flaw."

Turning back around, she used her wand to levitate the rock out of her hand while slowly increasing the size of the rock. By the time the rock reached the barrier the rock was a full two heads taller than Aayla and just as wide. Setting the now boulder sized rock in line with the barrier, Jane then cut out a path through the rock. "As I was saying," Jane breathed, wiping at her brow with the back of her hand. "The barrier effects only organic material, and it forms around inorganic material."

Picking up another fallen tree branch, Jane tossed the stick through the opening in the rock. The stick continued pass the barrier completely intact before landing on the other side. "See?" The Lieutenant smirked as she tucked her wand away. "Piece of cake. But we best hurry through. Not quite sure just how long that transfiguration job of mine will hold out for."

Hesitating for only a second, Aayla marched through the stone arch before anyone else could do so. Emerging on the other side, she released the breath she didn't even realize she was holding. "The Lieutenant is right." She said calmly, turning back towards the arch and her squad. "Let's move."

With only the slightest bit of hesitance, the squad made their way through the arch one at a time with Jane being the last one through. Once they were all on the other side, Jane undid her transfiguration and threw the rock off to the side.

The rest of their trek went without interruption until they reached the edge of the tree line and the facility came into view. As soon as they could see the facility, Aayla motioned for her squad to spread out and get behind cover while she and Jane made their way towards the very edge of the tree line. "Well, I can't see any type of security." Jane Shepard commented quietly while looking over the plain looking building from around the tree she was hiding behind.

"Just because you can't see something doesn't mean that there isn't anything there." Aayla responded while pulling out her wand and lightly touching the tip to her temple. "Omnes videntes."

Her vision pulsed as the colors of the world around her dampened slightly. Scanning the building, Aayla tried to spot any movement coming from within, atop, or even around the structure. But no matter where she looked, she couldn't find a single soul moving. And that, more than anything, worried her.

"Well?" Jane asked as Aayla shook her head to clear off the last of the effects of the spell. "Anything?"

"No." Aayla replied, shaking her head. "Nothing. No sentries or guards. And there's no movement within the building either."

"Shit." Jane cursed, recognizing the implications almost immediately. "Means that we're more than likely too late huh?"

"Possibly," Aayla nodded while signaling for the other's to come forward. "Or they're waiting for us."

Once they were all together, Aayla laid out her plan. "Alright, listen up. It looks like this place has been abandoned, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it is. The Lieutenant and I will head out first. Everyone else will stay here and prepare to cover us should our assumptions prove false. Once we reach the building we'll signal for you to approach. Apprentice Abbott will take the lead on your approach. Hannah, keep your senses open for any sign of danger understood?"

"Yes Master." Hannah nodded quickly before moving back with the other soldiers, leaving only Aayla and Jane near the edge of the tree line.

"So," Jane said, keeping her eyes trained on the facility before them. "How do you want to play this? Run like hell and hope that no one sees us?"

"No," Aayla replied, shaking her head. "I have a better idea. I just hope that I do it right this time."

Bringing her wand atop her head, she lightly touched it against the base of her lekku. The sensation of an oozing substance sliding over her head and down her body nearly made her shiver in revulsion, but she held firm until the sensation reached her toes and then disappeared. "Disillusionment." Jane nodded, pulling her own wand out and tapping herself on top of her head own. "Good idea."

Within moments Jane was little more than an outline that could only truly be seen when the woman moved. "Shit-balls." She could hear, rather see, Jane shutter. "I really don't care for the way that feels."

"It's better than the alternative." Aayla countered. "Now let's get a move on Lieutenant."

Even though she couldn't exactly see the Lieutenant, she could hear her as she moved out from behind her cover as Aayla stepped out into the open and began running towards the seemingly abandoned building. After closing half the distance, the two still had yet to encounter any type of resistance. Even upon reaching the building itself they were still left unmolested.

"Well,"Aayla heard Jane breath heavily beside. "That was…uneventful."

"Yes it was." Aayla nodded, making her way along the edge of the building until they reached a side door. Holding up her hand, Aayla frowned slightly as she made a pass over the door with the Force. "Curious."

"What is it?" The Lieutenant asked as Aayla removed the disillusionment over herself.

Staring at the locking mechanism on the door, she hovered her hand just above the metal construct. Reaching out with the Force, she began to manipulate the tumblers within. "There's nothing here." Aayla said, as she worked on undoing the lock. "No Force barriers, no electricity to indicate alarms. I can't even sense any traps on the other side of this door."

"Well, maybe we're just getting lucky." Jane shrugged, as her own disillusion disappeared.

"Perhaps." Aayla nodded as she felt the tumblers fall into place and the lock slide open with a light click. "Or perhaps you were right…and we're too late."

Cracking the door open ever so slightly, Aayla searched once again for any traps or alarms while beside her, Jane stood at the ready with her blaster pointed towards the opening. There was a faint…something just on the other side of the door, but Aayla could sense any malicious intent. "We're clear." Aayla said after a moment as she opened the door fully and signaling for the other's to join them.

The second group, led by her Apprentice, quickly made their way across the clearing. As they drew level with Aayla and Jane, they fell into the order that Aayla had assigned to them with two men joining Aayla on point, two more flanking Hannah and the last one joining the Lieutenant at the rear.

Once they were in position, Aayla stepped into the building and passed through the strange barrier that she'd sensed. The moment she did her empathic sense's nearly threatened to overwhelm her. Anger. Pain. Despair. Fear. Each sensation far more powerful than the last assaulted her senses to the point where she was forced to place a hand against the nearest wall to support her.

"Master!" Hannah desperately called out, rushing to her side and stepping front of her. "Master…are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Aayla said, forcing the sudden swelling of emotions out of her mind while falling back on her years of Jedi training to bring peace back to her mind. "Whatever that barrier was that surrounded this place...while it wasn't malevolent it was keeping emotions of those within sealed away. And now that we've crossed that barrier…I sense the despair and anguish within."

Patting her Apprentice on the shoulder, Aayla gave the young girl a reassuring smile. "It was overwhelming for a moment, but nothing more than that. Fall back in line Apprentice."

Hannah stared up at her, her concern still etched clearly across her face. "Yes Master." She nodded before stepping back and retaking her place in the formation.

"Keep your eyes peeled." Aayla said to the rest of her squad as she held her lightsaber in her right hand and her wand in her left. "Despite outward appearances…we are not alone in here."

Moving slowly, the group made their way further into the facility. No matter where they went however, they were greeted with nothing more than empty rooms devoid of any signs of occupancy. Within the space of an hour, Aayla and her team had searched every room available and were more than slightly puzzled as they stood within the large empty warehouse within the building.

"Okay," Jane muttered as she stared around at the empty expanse. "Is anyone else confused or is it just me?"

"Perhaps we're too late." One of the men growled. "If there was anything here, we would've found it by now. Looks like we're a day late and a dollar short on this one ma'am. Let's just get out of here before someone comes around and catches us with our pants down."

"Perhaps." Aayla nodded, staring around the empty room.

But despite having found nothing, a small part within the back of her mind was almost screaming at her that something was here. That feeling was compounded when she felt the urge to ignore that instinct as well. 'Something is playing with our minds here.'

Twisting her wand slightly, she created a small pebble and floated it up until it was right in front of her face. 'It still amazes me.' Aayla thought, watching the small stone slowly spin in front of her eyes. 'I've probably learned more about the Force in my year on this planet than I have in all of my time amongst the Jedi.'

Cutting of her musing, she flicked her wand and sent the small pebble flying through the empty space. Nearly halfway across the empty room however the pebble clanged off of something invisible and fell to the floor.

"It appears as if we might not be too late after all." Aayla commented, focusing on the spot where the pebble bounced off of something.

All around her, her squad and even Hannah were trying, and failing, to keep their eyes on the location where the pebble had stopped. The Lieutenant however, continued to stare ahead unflinchingly. "Oh…" Jane breathed, shaking her head. "This…this is a damn near thing of beauty. Compulsions charms, Repelling Wards, Notice-Me-Not Wards and Disillusionment Charms…all interwoven into one another. Fucking-a. This is a work of art."

"Can you remove it" Aayla asked. While her skills were increasing exponentially, this magic was still relatively new to her.

"Possibly." Jane frowned, pulling out her wand and taking a few tentative steps forward. "But…it's going to take some time."

For the next few hours, Jane worked diligently on disabling whatever spells were keeping them from their target. The soldiers that'd come with them had fanned out and were covering all entrance points to the building, waiting for any potential uninvited guests. Aayla and Hannah split the time between helping Jane whenever and however they could and doing a few Force exercises that were common place amongst the Padawans back before the start of the Clone Wars.

After nearly two hours, a thoroughly exhausted and sweat covered Jane rocked back on her heels. "Finally," she breathed as she slashed her wand across her body.

The air in front of the rippled and where there was once nothing, there was now an old, heavily damaged star ship. "Curious." Aayla muttered, walking forward and inspecting the ship with a trained eye.

"Master." Hannah said, following behind her. "This…where did this ship come from?"

Frowning, Aayla rubbed at her chin. "I assume that this is the ship that Azcarin and the Emperor used to come to this world." She mused as the three of them made their way around towards the lowered loading ramp.

Walking up into the ship, Aayla noticed that the decay within the ship was even worse than it was on the outside. "Is this ship even still useable?" Jane asked as she poked at a rust covered section of wall, which gave way under the slight pressure of her finger.

"No." Aayla answered quickly as they rounded a corner and came upon the main section of the ship, which had a large holo-projector dominating the middle of the room. "I'm surprised that they even managed to get this ship here from wherever they dug it up from."

Walking up to the consul, she was more than a little surprised to see that it was still operational, if only barely. Pressing a few keys on the display, Aayla furrowed her brow as she brought up the ships log and diagnostics. "Interesting," she muttered as she scrolled through the log.

"What is it Master?" Hannah asked, stepping up to her side and staring at the display, no doubt trying to decipher as much as she could.

Scrolling through the list further, Aayla stopped as she reached the last action taken. "It appears that this is Azcarin's ship from three-millennia ago." She said as she read the log aloud. "They crash landed on this planet. However before he left, Azcarin cannibalized every ship function save for one, which he diverted all power too to keep it running as long as possible. Navigation."

"Well, that makes sense doesn't it?" Jane asked.

"Yes." Aayla nodded as she tapped into the ship's navigation system. "However even this system was almost completely cannibalized and rerouted to a single function."

A few more key swipes and the log disappeared as the holo-projection displayed this star system Earth was a part of. As the three watched the galaxy spin, a single red dot appeared within the asteroid belt. "This ship is tracking something." Aayla said, staring at the dot which was imbedded deep in the asteroid belt. "And I'm willing to bet that is what the Emperor wants to keep hidden from us."

Deactivating the display, Aayla sunk down into her knees and removed the panel on the side of the holo-projector. "What are you doing?" Jane asked as Aayla reached into the core of the projector and began disconnecting wires.

"We can't take the ship with us." Aayla grunted as she roughly pulled out a series of wires. "I'm surprised that it even surprised its unearthing and transportation here. So, our best bet is to take only what we need from the ship. In this case, the navigational computer."

Pulling out a few more wires, Aayla flinched back as a few sparks shot up at her. "Unfortunately," she muttered, getting back to work. "That is something easier said than done."

* * *

Sitting in his Emperor's makeshift throne room, Azcarin idly swirled the blood red wine within the goblet in his hand in small circles as he listened to the ass kissers present themselves to his Emperor and Master, or rather his Voice as it were. As another witch prostrated herself before the Voice and began making some long winded speech about everlasting devotion, Azcarin downed the rest of his wine before thrusting his now empty goblet out to be refilled. Truth be told…he was bored. Bored out of his fucking mind. Sure there had been a lot of fun as of late, and after being sealed away for so long he reveled in the chance to quite literally flex his muscles.

But lately the Emperor had been…curbing his fun. This world was starting to fall apart at the seams. Just about every major country was facing civil war of some sort. And those that were not were under siege from another country. Old hatreds that'd been fanned by his Emperor's Children were threatening to boil over. And if not for the fact that Mortis's plan had been done away with a fair portion of the nuclear arsenal available, he was sure that they would now be being used. And with such violence running rampant around the world, the Emperor had started to pull his forces back to conserve them for when they were truly needed. Which, unfortunately, included him.

And so now here he was. Forced to listen to fools prattle on about their loyalty and devotion while there was a perfectly good war being fought just outside. It was…maddening. His fingers itched to feel the cool metal of his lightsabers in his hands. His ears ached to hear the cries of death once more. His mouth watered for the taste of death and his eyes hungered for the fear of death that entered his victims' eyes as he descended upon them. But no. Here he was. Reduced to nothing more than a fucking ornament on display for his Emperors pleasure.

"-richly rewarded for your loyalty Lady Kuznetsov." The Voice proclaimed loudly, drawing Azcarin out of his self-loathing at being kept from battle. "You will have a place of honor amongst the New Sith Order for your loyalty and support."

Azcarin truly hated this Voice. He was pompous, arrogant and reminded him of far too many Sith that he'd met. Most of whom he'd killed. _'Truly, it will be a good thing when the Emperor finally disposes of his Voice and claims his new one. I can't wait to see the look on Voldemort' face when the Emperor abandons him to die at the hands of the boy that will become his successor.'_

Before the woman could continue her longwinded tirade, the doors to the room burst open and a young man ran in. His face was red from exhaustion and his breath was ragged. 'Utterly pathetic.' Azcarin scoffed, shaking his head. 'These Force sensitives have absolutely no physical endurance. Not one would last even half a day under the instruction of an Overseer.'

"My Lord Voice," the young man panted, falling to his knees beside the woman. "Forgive…my intrusion...but…I…that is to say…that…"

Glaring down at the young man gasping before him, Voldemort reached into his sleeves and extracted his wand from its holster. "Speak quickly boy." Voldemort hissed, moving his wand around lazily until it was pointed directly at the young man. "Lest I lose my patience and your chance expires."

Again, Azcarin was forced to hold in his disgust at the man who claimed to be the Emperor's Voice. _'Such a fool. He is no true Sith. Merely one of the hundreds that claim the title but do not have the right to hold it. Only a few have had that right in my experience. The Emperor. Marr. Jadus. And…Nox. Only those four…well five including myself, have ever truly deserved the title of Sith.'_

"Yes…my Lord Voice…I…well…"

"You have five seconds to say what you mean to say boy." Voldemort hissed, his wand held tightly in his hand. "Or you will not enjoy what happens next."

The boy visibly swallowed before continuing on in a much clear, if still more than slightly, nervous voice. "My Lord Voice. The…the location you set us to watch over, the warehouse. The Guardians they…they discovered it and…and raided it."

Azcarin sat up straighter at this as he stared at the young man. _'Nox discovered my ship? Then it won't be long until she discovers what other little surprise the Emperor managed to send here. If she hasn't already.'_ Despite the situation, Azcarin felt himself smiling. _'Well…at least things won't be dull anymore.'_

The room had gone cold. Deathly cold. Which only meant one thing. And as Voldemorts eyes glowed brightly, Azcarin set his goblet aside and rose to his feet, ready to receive his Master's orders.

The boy on the floor didn't even have a chance. With barely a twitch of his hand, the Emperor sent the boy's head around in a full rotation and a half. His body fell forward onto his front while his face and eyes stared up lifelessly at the ceiling above. **"Azcarin."**

"Yes, my Emperor." Azcarin called out, sinking to a knee beside his Emperor and Master.

 **"She has found it."** He stated plainly. **"Soon she will find what we have hidden. We cannot allow this to come to pass. We must accelerate our plans now. Despite the fact that my Child has yet to secure a way in."**

"So we will have to force our way through then, my Master?"

 **"Yes."** The Emperor nodded. **"And I will have to repair whatever damage we cause quickly before she can bring what we've brought up to its full potential."**

"I understand, my Master." Azcarin bowed lowly before rising to his feet. It was finally happening. Soon he would be free of this dreadful excuse of a Voice. "The castle will be yours soon enough."

The Emperor didn't bother acknowledging him as he turned back towards the masses. **"Darth Bellatrix."**

"Yes, my Emperor?" The dark haired woman, who was the only one deserving of her title of Darth on this pathetic excuse for a planet, called out as she stepped forth from the crowd and knelt before the Emperor.

 **"The time has come."** He said, not looking at her. **"Take four of your choosing and retrieve that which you have hidden and bring it to me. And me alone."**

Darth Bellatrix lowered her head in acceptance. "As you command, my Emperor."

As Bellatrix moved back into the crowd, Azcarin felt himself smile at what he knew was coming. Once Bellatrix returned with Voldemort's Horcrux and gave it to the Emperor, the fool's fate would be sealed. And once they retrieved the last of the objects that kept him alive, the Emperor would destroy them. And then he would allow the boy to kill him, sealing the boy's fate as the next Voice of the Emperor.

 **"Darth Nightshade."**

Nightshade stepped forward next. She didn't kneel on the ground like Bellatrix, but she did bow respectfully. "Yes, my Emperor?"

 **"Your pets, are they ready?"**

Nightshade smiled and nodded her head. "Yes my Emperor. They are ready and will succeed at any task that you set upon them. I promise you, my Emperor."

 **"They had better Nightshade."** Vitiate stated plainly. **"Despite your successes, I will not accept failure from you. And the consequences will be most dire should you fail."**

Nightshade didn't even flinch at the harsh tone. She well knew the price of failure. "Of course, my Emperor. I assure you, my pets will not fail."

 **"Blackwood."**

"Yes, my Emperor." Blackwood groveled, dropping to a knee.

 **"Prepare our forces. Both Force sensitive and mundane."** The Emperor commanded, surprising more than a few present in the hall as most were unaware of the true depth of the forces under the command of their Emperor. **"It is time for us to come out from the shadows and take our place as the true rulers of this world."**

* * *

Deep within the depths of the Guardian Temple, Nox stood in a triangle formation with Asajj Ventress and Xenophilius Lovegood making the two other points respectfully. It could only be the three of them for what they were doing, and she would have no other than these two. Xeno had experience and knowledge that made him invaluable in what they were doing. And Asajj…well she had experience with, and an understanding of, the dark side of the Force. An understanding that the other more experienced members of the Guardians lacked. And it was that knowledge and experience that was needed here.

In between the three of them, bound in magical chains and behind unbreakable bars was their prisoner and the focus of their attention. The dementor that Harry had caught weeks ago when he'd managed to bring Admiral Hackett onto their side of the war.

Raising her hand, Nox channeled the dark side of the Force through her, using her hatred and anger at Vitiate as a catalyst. Black wisps of smoke, the physical reaction to the dark side, drifted from her outstretched hand and into the dementor between them. As soon as the black wisps touched the dementor, the creature howled out in an inhuman cry of agony as she used the dark side to force her way into the very essence of the creature. Weeks of research on the creature had yielded nothing. So now…now she was forced to delve to depths she would've preferred not to venture into.

This was the other reason why she didn't want the former Jedi…or even her son down here with her while she went to these depths. What they were doing could barely be considered research. It was more akin to torture as the creature wailed and thrashed about against its bindings as she used the Force to peel back its layers, trying to reach the very core of what this creature was. Using a light sided method perhaps could've achieved the same thing as she was trying to do now, but it would've taken far longer. No. This was the only way to get the information they needed.

So she pressed on. Using her hatred to fuel her as she guided Asajj's and Xeno's efforts as the three of them tore into the dementor. Her work halted only briefly as she peeled back another layer and revealed what the creature had once been. A young girl. A child. A frightened child. A child that'd been torn from the light and cast into a sea of never ending darkness and suffering. Even Asajj faltered slightly as the child that'd once been was revealed. Xeno held firm, but only just.

Pushing her disgust aside, for this was truly revolting even for a Sith, she went beyond that child that'd been and looked for what'd changed within her. And then she saw it. It was so clear that she had no idea how she didn't see it before. ' _Of course he did this.'_ Nox cursed as she checked, and rechecked, her findings. Wanting to make absolutely sure that what she was sensing was indeed the truth of the matter.

Once she was satisfied, she pulled the three of them out of the dementor and back into their own bodies. Her eyes opened in tandem with Asajj's and Xeno's. Both of whom had a heavy sheen of sweat across their brow. The same sheen that Nox knew coated her own face.

Rising to her feet, Nox approached the creature she hated and pitied. The black hood twisted towards her. The tortured face staring up at her blankly. "Mary Lou." She said, kneeling down before the dementor and drawing out her wand. "That'd been your name child. Once upon a long time ago before you were taken and twisted by the dark side."

Raising her wand, she placed the tip right in front of the dementor's face. There was no fear from the creature. No hatred. Nothing. Not even the depressing aura of darkness that the dementors extruded. "May you find rest in the Force…Mary Lou." She said softly before drawing on a memory of her son and sending her Patronus right into the creatures face, shattering it and ending its pitiful existence.

"Well," Xeno said after several long uncomfortable moments of silence. "I take it that you have found what you're looking for then?"

"Not sure what you found in there Nox." Asajj grumbled as she rose to her feet. "There was nothing but…darkness in there. Shit…I need a stiff drink and a stiff coc-"

"Then go to Vos." Nox said quickly, cutting the Dathomiri off midsentence. "I'm sure he'd be more than up for satisfying both of your cravings."

Asajj's smile was almost predatory. "He always is." She said before faltering ever so slightly. "But first…I need to know. What the fuck did we just sense? I've never sensed anything so…"

"Cold? Dark?" Nox asked rhetorically. "That, my dear Asajj, is a remnant of Vitiate's power."

Nox had long suspected that Vitiate was the one behind the creation of the dementors. Only he would've had the knowledge and will to create something so vile. And the fact that Voldemort suddenly knew how to make them after becoming the Emperor's Voice only reinforceed her belief. But now she knew for certain. The dementors were creations of Vitiate. She just hadn't realize the full extent until now.

"Gather the Council." Nox said, turning her head towards Xeno. The Council as it was, was a collection of the leaders in their war effort to stop the New Sith and try and bring peace back to Earth. "We need to discuss what we've learned."

Xeno had just barely managed to nod his consent when there was a crack in the air and Winky appeared right before. "Oh Mistress! Forgive Winky!" The house elf cried, falling to her knees. "Winky knows Mistress asked not to be disturbed…Winky waited…but Mistress also said that she needed to know right away! Winky didn't know what to do-"

"Winky." Nox said not unkindly. "It's alright. We're done here. What do you have to tell me?"

Instead of answering, Winky held her hands up. Cupped in-between her two bony hands was the large gem that Nox kept on her desk at all times. Snatching the gem out of her hands, Nox gazed into its depths. Scrawled within the depths of the gem was a message. _'VV Hogwarts_ '.

"Winky…get everyone." Nox said, lowering the gem in her hands. "And I mean everyone. Every Guardian. Every battle commander. Every Witch and Wizard of any standing. Every soldier we have and every pilot. Hell, anyone who can hold a gun. Get them all."

Winky's eyes went even larger than normal as she nodded vigorously. "Yes Mistress!" She cried before snapping her fingers and disappearing.

"Okay, now I'm curious." Asajj said, stepping forward. "What's going on?"

Looking at the gem one more time, Nox felt the corners of her lips upturn. "The time has finally come." She said, turning around towards Xeno and Asajj. "Voldemort and Vitiate are coming out into the open. Unfortunately for us…they're heading straight for Hogwarts."


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey everyone! I'm back! Sorry for the outrageously late delay in getting this chapter out. Been battling with a really bad case of writers block and the fact that sometimes…real life just kinda knocks you down then keeps repeatedly kicking the shit out of ya…so yeah. Okay, that's enough. Hope that you all enjoy! And please leave a review if ya feel so inclined to do so.**

 **And once again, huge thank you to my beta readers HowInMadHowie and DustinXenon. Thanks guys!**

 **Chapter 24**

Standing in the middle of the war room within the Guardian Temple, flanked by Harry and Ahsoka, Nox stared at each of her most trusted advisors who were all congregated around the large holo-projector in the middle of the room. Immediately to her left were Masters Yoda and Kenobi. Both of whom had proven their worth with their counsel again and again during this short campaign. Next to them were Admiral Hackett, Major Ryder and their Russian counterparts. And next to them, representing the magical community were Amelia, Sirius, Remus and Xeno.

"The moment that we've been waiting for has finally arrived." Nox said calmly as she kept moving her eyes around to each of her advisors. "According to our sources, Master Secura securing that ship for us has more than slightly ruffled the Emperor's feathers. He's sending his Sith back out onto the field with a specific target in mind." Pausing, she activated the holo-projector, which displayed an image of an old and majestic castle. "Hogwarts. And according to my deepest embedded spy…the Emperor himself is leading this assault."

"Why?" The Russian general asked. "That is a school, is it not? What possible strategic value could such a location hold?"

"Very much so. However, much like this Temple, Hogwarts sits upon the juncture of several magical ley lines." Xeno explained for Nox. "Those ley lines pump a continuous stream of energy into the wards and spells that protect the castle, making it next to impregnable."

"And with his knowledge and power," Nox picked up. "If he were to get inside, Vitiate could create barriers so powerful that you could drop every nuke in your arsenal on top of him and all that you would accomplish is giving him a decent sun tan. Long and short of it gentlemen, ladies. We cannot allow him to get into this school and take command of it. If we do, then we're well and truly fucked."

Leaning back, Nox began circling the projector. "We need to either capture, or kill Vitiate now. And unfortunately we can't kill him due to his…precautions. Which we still have been unable to locate or even identify. So that leaves us with only one recourse. We have to capture him, or rather Voldemort. And place him into a secure location until we destroy his horcruxes."

"Why?" Admiral Hackett asked. "If Voldemort is truly one of the keystones to this Sith Order, we should take him out and destabilize their ranks."

"That destabilization would only last for a very short time Admiral." Nox countered. "Plus, at the moment Voldemort is acting as Vitiate's Voice. Which means that Vitiate's essence is tied directly to Voldemort with that bond that can only be broken with Voldemort's death. Should he die, Vitiate will be free to find a new host. One that we don't know about. And then we'll be in a worse position than we are now."

Pausing, Nox rested her hands against the holo-projector and leaned forward. "This war will not be over until Vitiate's essence is destroyed. We failed to capture him on Azkaban…we can't fail this time. If he gets control of Hogwarts and its wards. It's game over. If Voldemort dies and Vitiate's essence leaves him, then we're back to square one. We both capture Voldemort here and now and hold him until we discover what Vitiate is using for his horcruxes, or we lose. It's that simple."

"Not to mention that we still need to find the last of Voldemort's horcruxes before we can even think of ending that snake-faced bastard." Remus sighed heavily. "But I guess if they're in captivity it'll give us a little more time to look."

"Well, we know where one is." Sirius spoke up. "It's in my dear cousin's vault in Gringotts. Of course that makes it nearly inaccessible to us despite our good relations with the goblins. But who knows where the other bloody thing is."

"It's at Hogwarts." Nox said firmly. "I could sense it every time I entered that school. But it was…elusive."

"We've searched every room in the castle already mother, twice." Harry chimed in. "Every room on the Marauder's map was checked, even a couple that weren't on the map. The only way it could be in the castle is if it's in a room that – oh bugger me sideways."

Nox, and everyone else in the room, turned towards Harry. "Whoa…James would be so proud of that one pup." Sirius grinned. "Of course you're mother, both of them, might just be up for slapping you upside the head-"

"Sirius. Shut up." Nox cut in as she stared at Harry. "What is it?"

Letting out a breath, Harry ran a hand over his face. "You said that you could sense it every time you went into the castle mother, so it's there. But despite checking every inch of the castle, we haven't been able to find it. That leaves only one room that it could be in. A room that is neither here nor there. A room that shifts depending on what is needed from it."

"The Room of Requirement." Nox sighed, connecting the dots and feeling like a Acolyte back on Korriban. "Fuck. Why didn't we think of that before?"

"Thought of it now, you have." Master Yoda comment. "Regret not thinking of it before, aid us will not. Heading to Hogwarts, we are. Retrieve and destroy this horcrux, we can."

"Well, that's one down." Amelia nodded. "We destroy the horcrux at Hogwarts, and that will just leave the one in Gringotts. And then Voldemort will be vulnerable."

"The horcrux within Gringotts will soon be taken care of." Nox said dismissively. "No, we just need to focus on capturing Vitiate and Voldemort."

"I take it that you have a plan then?" Master Kenobi asked.

"Yes." With a wave of her hand, the holo-projector showing Hogwarts altered slightly so that a visible barrier was around the school. "We've long thought that Vitiate had a Child of his located within the school, a muggleborn. Which was why Lucius advocated for the muggleborns returning to the school in the first place. To give them time to work out how to take down the barrier around the school. But we're going to beat him to the punch. Harry, his Valkyries, the other school age Apprentices and six of our best squads led by Major Ryder will take three portkeys to the school grounds at this point." A dot appeared near the back bridge leading into the castle just outside the barrier. "From there they will make their way into the school."

"Are we going to wait for Vitiate to take down the barrier then ma'am?" Major Ryder asked, looking over the three-dimensional projection of the school with a critical eye.

"No." She answered, shaking her head. "You'll cross while the barrier is still active." That drew a few queer looks from her advisors before she pressed on. "Despite how powerful the barrier is, it still has one weakness that is in virtually every magical barrier or ward. It cannot stop a phoenix from magical transporting itself across."

"Forgive me ma'am, but phoenixes are extremely rare, are they not?" Hackett questioned.

"Yes they are." Nox nodded before motioning towards Harry. "So it's good that we have one in our midst."

Harry's form wavered for a second as his whole body seemed to shrink. Within a heartbeat where her son once stood, there was a now a red phoenix standing tall on the edge of the holo-projector. "My son will be escorting you across the barrier in groups." Nox continued on, as Harry shifted back into his normal form. "Once you are inside, Major Ryder you will escort your men to the ramparts and set them up too…"

Nox's words trailed off as something caught her eye. Raising her hand, Xeno lurched forward slightly as the necklace he had around his neck was roughly pulled off of him and into Nox's open hand. Holding the small gold symbol in her hand, Nox stared down at the pendant blankly.

"Xeno…what is this?" She asked without lifting her eyes.

"It's the symbol of the Deathly Hallows." She heard Xeno explain while she continued to stare resolutely down at the pendant.

"The Deathly Hallows?" Sirius scoffed. "I thought you were smart Xeno. The Hallows are nothing more than a myth. A myth that is better off not existing in my opinion. If those three objects were to actually exist…I shudder to think what would happen if they were to fall into the wrong hands. Or anyone's hands for that matter."

Xeno made some form of rebuttal, but Nox ignored the two men as she felt her anger slowly rising within her. All this time…it was right in front of her and she couldn't see it until now. "Master Nox." Master Yoda's voice cut in through the ongoing argument and bringing a sudden and swift end to it. "Seen this symbol before, you have?"

"Yes." Nox nodded. "Lana Blanco carved this exact symbol into the floor of the Emperor's tomb in Egypt. But I never knew what it corresponded too, until now that is." Fixing her eyes on Xeno, she nodded towards the man. "Tell me of these 'Deathly Hallows' Xeno."

Nodding, Xeno drew himself up to his full height before starting. "Unfortunately most of what we think we know is speculation, and truthfully the only somewhat accurate accounting of what happened is recorded within the children's book Beedle the Bard'. But according to legend, there were three brothers who outsmarted a trap laid before them by Death itself. Impressed by their ingenuity, Death granted them three items with extraordinary powers.

"A wand that could never be bested. A stone that could bring the dead back to life. And a cloak capable of hiding one even from Death itself. It is said that if one managed to collect all three and unite them, then they would become the Master of Death. One of the many problems with this story though is that no one can trace the lineage of the three brothers. Some claim ties to them, and say that they existed no more than a thousand years or so ago. While others argue that this tale is in fact several thousand years old. No one can say for sure."

Nox could see it now so plainly that she wondered why she hadn't even considered the possibility before. 'This certainly sounds right up Vitiates alley.' "Tell me Xeno, what are some of the more popular representations of death in both magical and non-magical lore."

Xeno blinked and tilted his head to the side. "The most common representation is of a figure in a cloak that carries a scythe. There are also the Shinigami of Japan, but those are extremely varied in their representation in lore. Then there is…" Xeno's words trailed off as his eyes lit up.

"Merlin's saggy balls…a red faced devil."

"Azcarin." Nox said with a note of finality.

"Wait – hold up one bloody second." Sirius called out. "Are you telling us that the Deathly Hallows, three of the most powerful magical items in wizarding history, were created by the Sith? And not only that…but if I'm following your train of thought here then-"

"The Deathly Hallows are Vitiate's horcruxes." Nox finished for him. "It makes sense in a twisted sort of logic that would come naturally to Vitiate. What better way to safeguard something than to turn them into precious objects that people would do anything to acquire while at the same time going to the ends of the Earth to safeguard?"

"Bloody hell." Remus growled. "So now we know what is horcruxes are. Well that's step one I guess. Now onto step two. How do we find three objects that people have been looking for since Merlin only knows when?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Nox spied her son staring down at the pendant with a look of pure concentration as if he were trying to place it. "Kreacher." Harry called out suddenly, to which the house elf replied promptly by appearing beside Harry with only the slightest of cracks.

"Yes, Master Potter?" The aged house elf asked, lowering his head.

"I need you to get my father's cloak for me." Harry said without taking his eyes off of the pendant.

"Of course Master Potter." Kreacher nodded before snapping his fingers and disappearing.

"What are you thinking pup?" Sirius asked, staring at Harry. "Are you – no. That's impossible. That cloak has been in the Potter family for generations. If it was…someone surely would've known by now! Hell, James would've told us if he knew whether or not it is what you're thinking it is."

Harry didn't respond to Sirius as they all waited silently for Kreacher to return. Thankfully the silence only lasted a second longer as Kreacher snapped back into existence beside her son, the silvery invisibility cloak that'd been his father's held in the elf's hands. With barely a passing 'thanks', Harry took the cloak from Kreacher and began frantically searing around the hood of the robe. "Here." He said, pointing to a small spot within the hood.

Leaning over to get a better look at what he was pointing at, Nox's brow furrowed as she stared down at the small, barely larger than her little finger nail, symbol that was embroidered into the fabric. A symbol that was identical to the pendent she'd taken off of Xeno.

"Son of a bitch." Sirius breathed, staring down at the mark. "It was right there…right under our bloody noses this whole time."

Taking the cloak from her son, Nox reached out through the Force and into the depths of the magic that was embedded in within the cloak. She'd studied the cloak several times ever since her son had taken ownership of it. But she never noticed anything out of the ordinary about it. Of course, she hadn't given her inquiries any focus. Until now that was. Now that she had something specific she was searching for, it was almost painfully easy to sense the foul presence of Vitiate within the cloak.

"Kreacher." Nox called out, turning her head towards the small elf. "The lock box, you know of the one I speak. Get it."

"Yes Mistress." Kreacher bowed before snapping his fingers and disappearing, only to reappear less than a second later the lock box in hand. "Here it is Mistress."

"Thank you Kreacher." She said, taking the box and opening it.

Reaching her arm into the small box up to her elbow, she felt around blindly until her fingers brushed alongside a smooth velvety surface, which she immediately latched onto. Pulling out the pouch, she upended it into her palm, revealing a stone gemstone. Using the same technique she did with the cloak, she searched deep into the essence of the stone. "And this makes two." Nox smirked, levitating the gem off of her palm and onto the edge of the holo-projector next to the Potter Family Cloak.

Around the table the three non-magicals were staring at the cloak and stone with interest. Her two Jedi advisors were both standing stoically beside her. And three of the four magicals in the room were all staring at the objects with slack-jawed expressions. "Two of the three Deathly Hallows…in one room." Amelia breathed.

Admiral Hackett cut in, bringing the conversation back around to its starting point. "This is a good start, but it is not enough. Two is not three. And until we have the third, we might as well not have any at all."

"Well then, it's a good thing that we know where the third Deathly Hallow is then, isn't it?"

All eyes snapped over towards the speaker. "What?" Xeno asked innocently, with a light smile playing across his lips. "I'm actually surprised none of you have figured it out yet. Especially you Amelia. I would've thought that your position as the Head of the DMLE would've given you access to this information. But perhaps you predecessor decided not to pass it on as he was required to do so when he left the office to you."

"Enough with the riddles Xeno!" Amelia shouted, her face flushed and her hand going down to ever expanding midsection. Taking a few steadying breaths, Amelia fixed Xeno with a glare fit for any Sith. "Tell us where, or rather who, has the last Deathly Hallow, the Death Stick or rather the Elder Wand."

"I would've thought that it was obvious." Xeno replied with a shrug. "The Elder Wand is currently in the possession of one Albus Dumbledore. And has been since World War II when he claimed ownership of the wand after defeating its previous holder, one Gellert Grindelwald."

Nox nearly smiled. Nearly. "How many others are aware of this information?"

Xeno shrugged. "Outside of the ones in this room, maybe a handful. The Heads of the more prominent departments in the Ministry of Magic and some of the upper echelons of the Department of Mysteries. But that is about it. Thankfully, our idiot Minister was never informed as he was deemed, 'unsuitable' due to his connection to the Malfoy and several other suspect families. The Department of Mysteries likes to keep track of powerful magical artifacts. They've long suspected that the Potter Family Heirloom was one of the Deathly Hallows, but no one has ever been able to study it. And they had no clue as to where the Resurrection Stone might've been. But the wand, they've been tracking that wand and its owners for nearly five centuries. We actually lost track of it for nearly two centuries until Grindelwald showed up with it during the Second World War."

Silence descended upon the room as everyone absorbed what they'd been told. "Well then," Obi-Wan said slowly. "It seems that this mission has taken on even more objectives. We have two of the three items keeping the Sith Emperor alive and we know where the third is. And it just so happens to be right where we, and the Sith, are converging. The Force definitely moves in mysterious ways."

"Indeed, Master Kenobi." Yoda hummed. "Shatterpoint, we have reached. The fate of the Force, decided it shall be. Fail...we cannot. Destroy the Sith. We must."

Nodding, Major Ryder stood up straight. "So what's our plan after we get across the barrier and into defensive positions ma'am?"

Setting both horcruxes aside for the moment, Nox continued on with the plain that she, Admiral Hackett and Master Kenobi had worked out prior to the meeting. "You'll hold positions as long as possible until I and the rest of our forces arrive via our LAATs, our fighters and the Wolfsbane." She explained, bringing the holographic image of Hogwarts back up. "I believe the barrier around Hogwarts will buy you sometime, but make sure that the men you take with you know that this will be a hard fought battle until we arrive. If our timing is right, our fighters will arrive before the shield falls and we will be able to attack his forces that are still outside the barrier. Once your men are inside Hogwarts they would take to the high ground and battlements for covering fire. Harry? The map."

Harry reached inside his robe and pulled out a folded piece of old parchment. Unfolding it he handed it to Major Ryder. "You'll need one of the Shepard twins to unlock it, but once it's unlocked you'll have the best map of Hogwarts you'll ever find. Comes complete with secret passages and offers a means of means to coordinate fire because you'll be able to see where people are positioned on the map as their names will appear beside their markers."

With a raised brow Major Ryder delicately takes the parchment and sees that it's blank. "And how does it open?"

Harry grins, "Simply tape the map with a wand and say, 'I solemnly swear I'm up to no good'. I didn't come up with the passphrase." Harry stated, turning to glare at Sirius.

Shrinking the hologram, Nox highlighted a circle around the school grounds. "Once the barrier is down, and make no mistake that it will fall. Vitiate has had more than enough time to ensure that, and once it does he will push his forces within the school grounds. Once he is within the ward line, Master Vos and Master Ventress will lay down rune stones, which were developed by myself, Xeno and Bill Weasley, along key points along the boundary line of Hogwarts. These ward stones are designed with one specific purpose in mind. To reactivate the fallen Hogwarts barriers with the sole intent of keeping Voldemort from using any forms of magical travel escape. Once he's trapped, I will destroy the last of the horcruxes, and then we will end the Sith Emperor once and for all."

"Why wait?" Ahsoka asked, nodding her head towards the stone and cloak on the table. "We have two right here in front of us. Why don't we just get a head start and take out these two right now?"

"Because if we do then Vitiate will know that we have them and have begun destroying them." Nox explained. "And if he senses our true intent, he won't commit himself to the battle. In order for this plan to work, he has to enter the battle. It's only by using the foundation powering the wards of Hogwarts that we'll be able to create a barrier strong enough and large enough to contain him."

"I still must strongly advise a different course of action." Admiral Hackett cut in. "A school is no place for a battle to take place. Collateral damage is almost a guarantee in such conditions."

"I understand Admiral." Nox said morosely. "Trust me I do. And if there were any other option I would gladly take it. But the fact remains, that it is only by reversing the wards around Hogwarts that we'll be able to create a barrier strong enough to contain Vitiate and Voldemort. And besides; Nat, Astoria and Gabrielle will be going with Harry and the others and will be responsible for getting the younger students to a secure location and keeping them away from the battle itself. And hopefully the old fucker and his staff will actually get off their collective asses and help their students this time around."

Pushing herself away from the holo-projector, she summoned the cloak and the stone into the pouch that'd originally held the stone. "What about the older students at Hogwarts mother?" Harry asked. "And what of the list that Narcissa gave us regarding the students who are marked? And the Child that is in the school."

At this Nox hesitated. The Sith part of her knew that the safest option would be to simply eliminate these future threats. But that would backfire for her in more ways than one. Especially given her current allies. "Non-lethal neutralization." She said flatly. "They may be young, but they will still fight against us given the chance. We cannot give them that chance. Do whatever you have to son. Just make sure that they are not in our way. Because once the battle starts, we cannot be held accountable for anything that might happen to them."

"And what about these dragons that were stolen by the Sith when the attacks first began?" Kenobi asked. "I've been reading up on them and watching whatever vids we have available on them. They're fantastic creatures. But I dread to think what they've been turned into after being in captivity under the Sith for so long."

Pursing her lips, Nox rocked back on her heels. She hadn't forgotten about the dragons. But seeing as how Vitiate had yet to use them she assumed that he was simply holding them in reserve. And this would be the perfect opportunity for him to use them. "We will have to rely on our air support if the Sith unleash the dragons." Nox said after a moment. "Our fighters may not be as nimble as a dragon in the air…but they should be able to draw the dragons away from the battlefield and even take them down if they swarm them."

Stopping, she met the eyes of everyone in the room. "Make no mistake about it people. This battle will decide the fate of not only Earth. But of the galaxy and the Force itself. Failure is not an option. Now let's see it done. Dismissed."

* * *

Standing in the middle of the entrance hall of the Temple while holding onto the rope-portkey that would soon take them to their destination, Harry was going through every trick his mother had taught him in an effort to calm himself. This was not his first time going into battle. Not even close. But this time the stakes were much higher than ever before. This was the turning point in the war. If they succeeded, they would turn this war in their favor and possibly bring an end to the Sith on Earth. If they failed…no…failure wasn't an option.

 _'We won't fail Harry.'_ Ahsoka's voice sounded in his head as she stepped up beside him. _'It's not even an option that we can even start to consider.'_

Giving her a quick nod, Harry gathered himself before stepping into the middle of the assembled men and women that'd been chosen by his mother to be the first wave of defense at Hogwarts. As soon as he did, all eyes turned towards him and the room went dead silent. 'Oh fuck.' He cursed, swallowing as the soldiers and his friends stared at him. _'Ahsoka…help!'_

 _'You owe me for this._ ' Ahsoka sent to him as she stepped up beside him. "We all know what's at stake here. So we're not going to sugarcoat it. We either succeed…or Earth falls. So go succeed and kick some Sith ass off of this planet. Out of our home."

"Yes ma'am!" The soldiers all shouted as one, snapping to attention and saluting her and Harry before picking up their ends of the long rope-portkey.

Dropping his wand into his left hand, Harry took a deep breath as he pressed the tip onto the rope while the second group, led by Daphne and Luna, got in position around their own portkey. Licking his lips, he looked up one last time. His mother was standing at the far end of the hall. Her face completely serene as she watched on. _'May the Force be with you, my son.'_

 _'And you as well mother.'_ He sent back. "Activate."

They disappeared in a swirl of colors as Harry felt a sharp pull at his naval. His feet left the ground as the world spun in tight circles. All around him the magicals who were used to this mode of transport seemed completely at ease. The soldiers…well they were varied from one who looked quite green around the gills to one who looks as if they might nod off.

As abruptly as the portkey began, it ended. The magicals and a few of the soldiers managed to land gracefully on their feet as the portkey arrived. But the two or three green soldiers were not as lucky as one did a fairly impressive face plant into the ground. And the other two promptly turned their heads to the side and threw up as soon as they were on solid ground once more.

"Well…that was just about as pleasant as I remember it." Jane Shepard smirked, helping the soldier who'd face planted into the ground back up to his feet.

Less than a second after Jane had helped the downed soldier to his feet, there was a soft crack in the air as Daphne and the second wave swirled into existence a few meters away from where Harry and the others were standing. As the second wave were re-coordinating themselves a low drawn out whistle brought Harry's attention around towards Lieutenant John Shepard, who was staring up at the castle before them with wide eyes. "Damn kids…you all went school here?"

Turning around fully, Harry started up at Hogwarts. He had to admit, that in dark with the castle all alight, Hogwarts certainly was majestic. "Yeah," Harry nodded.

Twisting his wand off to the side, he cast a quick Tempus charm to check the time. 'Right on time.' He thought as he cancelled the spell. Everyone within the castle would be at the evening feast right now. And seeing as how this was the feast that celebrated the end of the first week of school, everyone, including all of the teachers and ghosts, would be in attendance. Which left them with free rein of the castle. Provided they could get by the several hundred paintings littering the halls.

"Shit. The schools in America have nothing on this place." John chuckled as he took a single step forward before stopping in his tracks. "Uh…where's the barrier at kid?"

Holding his hand out to the side, Harry summoned a small rock into his outstretched hand before rocketing it forwards. When it was no less than two feet in front of the Lieutenant the rock stopped in midair as a wave of light rippled. "Right about there." Harry commented dryly, waking forward and standing beside John.

Staring at the spot where the rock had stopped and fallen, Harry started pulling out every trick he knew to keep his heart, and breathing, under control. _'Relax Harry.'_ Ahsoka's voice echoed in his head. _'Do not doubt yourself. Even for a moment. Because I do not. I believe in you. So does everyone else here.'_

Nodding his head slowly, Harry took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. He felt a warmth flow over his body before he felt himself starting to contort. The first time he actually managed to fully transform into his animagus form, he stopped, fearful that pain would quickly follow. But his curiosity overruled his fear quickly enough, and he found that despite the contortion, despite body shifting into something else entirely…there was absolutely no pain during the process. Of course he was a little peeved that his mother hadn't informed him of that little aspect. But as she explained to him, he needed to overcome his fear, otherwise he would always be ruled by it.

Once the shifting was over, Harry bent his head around and checked over his now feathered body to make sure that everything was where it should be. "Alright, listen up." Ahsoka called out as everyone gathered around Harry. "Harry will be taking us across five at a time. Place your hand on him and whatever you do, once he starts do. Not. Let. Go. If you do…well truthfully I don't know what would happen but odds are good that it wouldn't be good for your health. So just hold on."

Their men, predictably enough, seemed more than a little nervous about what was about to occur and none of them seemed eager to be the first ones through. "Oh for fuck's sake." Lieutenant Jane growled as she stepped forward. "I've got the biggest set of balls here…and I'm a fucking woman." Pausing, she knelt down next to Harry and grabbed lightly onto his tail feathers. "Alright kid, do your thing. But if you fuck up my nice tan I'm going to shove my boot up your ass…while you're still in this chicken form."

The men and women around them all let off nervous chuckles as first Ahsoka, then Ginny and then Major Ryder came up next to him and placed their hands on him. After each of them gave him a slight nod, Harry closed his eyes and reached for the fire within him. He heard, rather than felt, the fire spring to life not only around himself, but around the other four as well. Once he felt that all of them were covered in his fire, he reached within himself again and…well it wasn't apparation but it was close to it.

"Holy fucking hell…that actually worked!"

Shaking his head, Harry looked around their surroundings. He, along with Ahsoka, Jane, Ginny and Ryder, were all ten feet ahead of the rest of the group. Which meant they'd successfully crossed the barrier with no ill effects. "Well what are you waiting for Harry?" Ahsoka asked, making him look up at her smiling face. "We're wasting time. Get moving lover boy."

* * *

Walking behind the shapely form of his wife, Rodolphus couldn't help himself as his eyes wandered down her back and to her backside. Even walking through the depths of the Gringotts tunnels, his wife had the same swagger and allure that'd made her the most sought after dame during her entire tenure at Hogwarts. And even beyond. For not the first time, he thanked his father for arranging the betrothal between the two of them, about the only worthwhile thing the bastard had ever done in his life. But it was his mother that'd helped him secure Bellatrix as his wife.

For it was his mother that helped him to potion Bellatrix enough so that the two of them could layer on enough compulsion charms and enchantments to make sure that she didn't dismember, disembowel, and geld him on their wedding night. And not necessarily in that order. The tricky part was making sure that they didn't use so many that she lost all of her free will. Otherwise someone would've suspected foul play and the impressive dowry, not to mention the tie in to the Black Family, would be gone forever.

After the ritual was complete, he actually was afraid that they'd overdone it. But his fears were put aside when she woke up the next morning completely devoted to him and the cause, but still retained enough of her original self to make her incredibly dangerous to their enemies.

"By the Emperor." One of the lackey's that'd come with them breathed as their goblin escort led them into an open cavern that was dominated by a large white dragon that was chained to the floor. "There actually _is_ a dragon down here!"

"Of course there is." The goblin that was leading them hissed, his head twisting back to look at the three fools that were fooling them. "And if you don't want to end up as its lunch then I highly suggest that you keep your voices down!"

The three grumbled slightly but wisely kept their mouths shut. Rodolphus wasn't interested in becoming a snack for a dragon or in starting an incident with the goblins. The Emperor, while unconcerned with the goblins in the long run, had made it well know that he didn't want to disturb the goblins just yet. The Sith Empire wasn't quite stable enough. And as long as the goblins controlled most of their wealth, they couldn't afford to antagonize the little beasts. But once the Empire was stable…it would be open season on the beasts who for so long thought themselves superior to witches and wizards.

"Here we are." The goblin growled as they stopped at one of the many vault doors. "The Lestrange vault. Present your key."

Rodolphus reached into his robes for his key, and grasped nothing. _'What the…?'_ He wondered, opening his robe enough so that he could peer into the empty pocket that he kept his vault key in. _'Where is that blasted…'_

His question was answered as Bellatrix calmly reached into her own robes and produced the key to the Lestrange Family vault. _'How did she…when did she…?'_ He wondered as his wife calmly handed the key off the goblin.

Without a word, the goblin snatched the key from his wife and turned back to the door. Dragging one of his claws up a seemingly random section of the door, a square formed in the smooth metal surface before moving aside revealing a keyhole. Putting the key into the slot, the goblin turned it first one way, then back the other before rotating it three times around in the first direction. "Be quick with your business." The goblin drawled as the door slowly opened before them. "We of the Goblin Nation pride ourselves on our neutrality. And you lot with your Sith Nation are disrupting our-"

A flash of bright white light filled the cavern followed by a loud sonic boom. The goblin blinked dumbly ahead. Then down at his chest where a bright red spot was slowly growing on his clothes. And up to the wand that'd dealt him the fatal wound. "Know your place creature." Bellatrix drawled as she brought her wand up to her lips and placed a kiss to the wood. "At the feet of your betters."

The goblin raised a shaking hand to his chest in a futile attempt at stemming the tide of blood leaving his chest. "You…" The goblin breathed before his knees buckled and he fell face first onto the stone floor, dead.

The goblin's blood hadn't even started to pool around his corpse before an ear piercing scream echoed throughout the cavern. "Damn it Bella!" Rodolphus yelled, drawing his wand. He would definitely have to redo the enchantments and compulsions on her soon. "We were given strict orders!" Turning to their three companions, he waved them off. "What are you standing around here for? The goblins will be on our arses soon! Get down the hall and form a bottleneck and kill every one of these little fuckers that come down the trolley. Now!"

The three hesitated only for a second, but that one second was long enough for him to draw out his wand and send a stinging hex at one of them. "Move! Now! Or I'll be using the Killing Curse next!" He yelled, to which the three immediately turned tail and ran towards the bottleneck point down the corridor.

Once they were alone, Rodolphus let out a frustrated growled as he turned around towards his wife. "Morgana's cunt Bella! What the fuck where you think-"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as Bella had him pinned up against the wall with one hand on his throat and the other holding her wand right underneath his nose. "Now now husband…that isn't how you should be speaking to me." His wife cackled, her eyes alight with mischief. "After all, I'm a Darth now. And you…you're just a Lord. And between a Lord and Darth, who reigns supreme in the Sith Empire dear husband?"

Rodolphus couldn't move. He could practically feel the magical energy swirling around the tip of his wife's wand, just begging for an excuse to be let loose and end his life in whatever painful and imaginative way Bella could think of. "A Darth."

"That's right, my dear husband." Bella smirked widely, leaning in and pressing a heated kiss to his lips. "And don't you ever forget it husband."

Pulling away from him, Rodolphus was left in the uncomfortable position of leaning up against the cold stone wall while discreetly trying to rearrange himself. _'Damn it.'_ He muttered as his hands moved under his robes. _'She can still turn me harder than dragon scales with a single kiss from her lips. Fucking vixen.'_

As Bella made her way into the vast Lestrange vault, Rodolphus's ears picked up the unmistakable sound of spells being cast coming from down the corridor. "Hurry it up Bella." He called out, taking cover within the vault while pulling out his own wand as his wife made her way carefully through the vault and towards the back. "The little bastards are coming. And I don't know how long those three pawns we brought along with us will hold out for."

If Bellatrix heard him, she made no indication as she reached the back of the vault. "Here it is." She said, just barely loudly enough for him to hear from his position near the vault entrance. Raising her hands, she picked up a single gold goblet that he couldn't place off of the shelf in the back. "I've been holding onto this for so long…and now it is time."

"That's what the Dark Lord had you hide in here all those years ago?" He asked rhetorically. "Good, then let's get the fuck out of here before the goblins get past ou-" A hideous ear piercing scream bounced throughout the interior of the vault, forcing him to almost drop his wand as he reflexively covered his ears.

When the screams mercifully died down, Rodolphus whipped around towards his wife…and gaped at her. In her left hand she held onto the golden goblet, which was oozing a black thick liquid out from a single point where the edge of a dagger was imbedded into it. The same dagger that his wife had had on her person at all times ever since they recovered Azcarin from his prison beneath Azkaban.

"It's a goblin blade, dear husband." Bellatrix explained as she stared down at the still oozing goblet with a look of triumph. "With basilisk venom infused into the blade. It cost a pretty knut, which you paid for of course. But it was necessary. I had to make sure that it could kill, or rather destroy, this wretched thing."

Rodolphus was still trying to piece together just the bloody hell was going on. 'Did the Dark Lord really send us down here just to destroy that…thing? No. He wanted us to retrieve it. Not destroy it.' "Damnit Bella!" Rodolphus growled as he leveled his wand at her, status be damned. "The Dark Lord wanted that…whatever it was, in one piece! We'll be turned into one of the Condemned for this failure!"

Bellatrix didn't seem to care in the least as she threw her head back and laughed. 'Bloody hell…she's really gone around the bend now!' "This…thing dear husband, was a horcrux. A piece of that half-blood piece of filth's soul. And now…it's destroyed. And dear Riddle's immortality is nearly gone."

Rodolphus's stomach sank past his feet and into the floor. 'She…she destroyed one of the artifacts that was keeping the Dark Lord alive? Fuck…we'll be lucky if we're only made into one of the Condemned!' "Morgana's frozen cunt Bella!" Rodolphus roared, stepping forward while keeping his wand trained on his wife, who was still staring down at the goblet in her hand. "What the fuck were you thinking?!"

He didn't even see her wand being pointed at him as he flew across the length of the vault before coming to a sudden and painful stop against the far wall away from his wife. "I am simply doing as I have been commanded to do, dear husband." Bella said, her eyes suddenly clearer than he could ever remember. "Or rather, what I volunteered to do."

Rodolphus's mind was racing. _'She was…commanded to destroy the Master's tie to immortality? By whom? The Emperor? But then…why would the Emperor want to kill his own Voice?'_ "Why?" He groaned, painfully getting to his feet. "Why would the Emperor command you to destroy one of his Voice's links to immortality?"

"The Emperor?" Bella asked, before throwing her head back and laughing hysterically. "Oh please…like I would ever listen to that disembodied dark pile of shite. No…I take orders only from my true Master. The one who freed me from yours and Voldemort's control. Grandmaster Nox."

The moment the woman's name passed through his wife's lips, Rodolphus was on his feet, wand brandished and ready to end his wife for her betrayal. But she didn't even seem phased. Fuck, she wasn't even holding her wand. But when she opened her hand at him, he felt an invisible force slam into him, sending him clear out of the vault and onto the chamber outside. The sounds of fighting were almost deafening as the three they'd brought with them continued to battle against the goblins, completely oblivious to the traitor in their midst.

As he struggled to get to his feet, he felt something invisible rip his wand from his grip. His wand flew end over end across the expanse and straight into Bella's open hand. _'She's…she's using wandless magic!'_ Rodolphus cried internally. _'How could she…only the Emperor and his Voice have that ability! Well…Nox as well…wait…how long…'_

"How long?" Rodolphus asked, pushing himself back along the floor until his back hit one of the stone pillars. Without his wand, his options were extremely limited. Either he had to wait for the other's to possibly come back, unlikely. Or he could…casting a glance over his shoulder his lips turned upwards. Yes. That is exactly what he was going to do. Not even Bella could hope to take one on alone.

"I assume you want to know how long I've been serving Grandmaster Nox?" Bella asked nonchalantly as she tapped his wand against her open palm. "Well, you wouldn't remember this, but years ago Master Nox came and questioned us in Azkaban. After which she wiped all of our memories. But with me, she left something behind." She paused, tapping his wand against her temple. "A connection. Through this connection she was able to help me overcome the enchantments, potions and charms, all of which had weakened during my stay in that hell, and become free. After that, I was Nox's woman through and through."

Hearing the sound of fighting drawing closer, Rodolphus racked his brain trying to think of something, anything that might get him out of this situation. Hearing one of his men give off a death scream struck a thought within him and he couldn't help but grin. "You screwed up Bella." He said, rising to his feet. "You killed a goblin. And now they'll be out for the blood of the Guardians, making them allies of the New Sith Order!"

Bellatrix stopped her tapping as her head tilted ever so slightly to the side. "How did you ever manage to confound me all these years?" She asked, clearly exasperated. "The Guardians didn't kill a goblin. Darth Bellatrix Lestrange of the New Sith Order killed a goblin. And now, in case it hasn't registered in that pathetic organ you call your brain. There are three members of the New Sith Order just down the hall fighting against the goblins. No. The Guardians won't be blamed for this. The New Sith Order will bear full responsibility for this attack. Prompting the goblins to enter the war against them."

Rodolphus felt this face go cold as he shivered. _'She's right…the goblins won't blame the Guardians…they'll go after the New Sith Order for this!_ ' "You…you bitch!" Rodolphus screamed, charging headlong at his wife.

His mistake registered a second too late in his mind as his wife calmly raised her hand at him. Blue lightning shot forth out of her fingers, striking him in the chest and stopping him dead in his tracks.

He was no stranger to pain. He'd suffered under his Master's, and his father's, Cruciatus curse more times than he cared to remember. He'd even been subject to the Emperor's variant of the Cruciatus Curse. But this…this curse was something else completely. A scream of pure agony tore from his lips before he could help himself as his knees buckled and he fell to the floor in a twitching heap.

"Interesting, isn't it husband." He could barely even register Bella's approach, let alone her voice, as his body still twitched from the after effects of the curse. 'Fucking cunt…what did she hit me with!'

"Let me tell you a secret, dear husband." Fingers clutched at his hair as his head was pulled back to an unnatural angle, forcing him to look up into the cold calculating eyes of his wife. "In order to use this technique like I just did, it isn't enough to simply wish to cause harm. No. You have to truly loath the person that you are using it against. And unfortunately for you, my dear husband…there is no one on this planet that I loathe more than you. If I could, I would make you suffering last for an eternity, or at least as long as I could keep you alive for, for the things that you've done to me and made me do. But unfortunately…we don't have time for that. So this will just have to do."

The pain still coursing through him clouded his vision, limiting his vision to the point where he couldn't see what she was doing. But he could feel it. He could feel the heat emanating from the floor right beneath them. And as soon as he locked eyes with her, he knew instantly what spell, or rather runic enchantment, she was casting.

"You – you won't!" He shouted desperately, trying to prevent her from activating the Hellfire runic spell growing at their feet. "If you cast this then you-"

"Will more than likely perish, just like you." Bellatrix finished for him, her eyes unflinching.

"You're…you're bluffing!" Rodolphus shouted, desperately trying to break free from her grip. But no matter how hard he struggled, her hand didn't move. She just stood there, unflinching, holding him in place as the Hellfire Runic Spell slowly grew beneath them. "You won't cast it! If you do-"

"Then my blood will boil in my veins first." She answered, explaining the spell that, ironically enough, she learned from the Lestrange Family Grimoire. "Once my blood is boiling my internal organs will start to deteriorate from my own boiling blood. Then my bones will start to crumble as the marrow within is boiled away. Lastly, my muscle tissue will deteriorate, leaving me in a pile of twitching agony until I die. And while all that is happening my nerves will stay intact so that I know what is happening to me. And what truly makes this insidious…is the fact that while this is happening time within the rune is distorted, making the whole process take hours while only seconds pass outside."

Rodolphus had never been one for fear, or for begging. Growing up completely immersed in the darker aspects of magic didn't allow one to fear or beg for mercy. But now…knowing what fate awaited him as well as the look in his wife's eyes…he felt fear. And he found himself doing something he hadn't done for years. "Please…Bella…please don't do this!" He begged, renewing his efforts to break free to no avail. "Please…Bella…for all that we have shared-"

"For all that we've shared!" Bellatrix shouted, her grip tightening. "What we've 'shared' has been nothing but a lie! You turned me into a walking weapon little better than the Condemned that the Emperor is creating. But despite everything…perhaps even you don't deserve this fate. But then I remember one little thing. The one thing that you force me to do that I truly find unforgivable." The runes beneath their feet was growing hotter by the second, but the sweat coating his brow wasn't from the heat beneath them, but rather from the heat glare coming from his wife.

"Alice Longbottom." She said through gritted teeth. "You wouldn't know this, not many did truth be told. But for years…she was my sister in all but blood. She tried to get me to run away from my Family like Sirius did. But before I could you and your family turned me into your mindless fuck-slave-weapon. And then…you forced me to torture her to insanity! I could see it in her eyes, even while I was torturing her and her husband into insanity. The forgiveness in them…and the plea to end it. And I– I couldn't. For that crime…for forcing me to do that to a woman I love like my own sister…I cannot forgive you husband. And I will not spare you from this fate!"

Rodolphus only had a second to recognize the feel of the fire licking his boots before the pain set in. His last conscious thought before the pain clouded his mind to feel his wife's fingers leaving his hair as he screamed out in agony.

* * *

Walking into the deeper sections of the vaults, Ragnok stared down indifferently at the three wizards that were laid out before him. Coming to the last of them, who was missing the top half of his head, Ragnok turned and stared back at the dozen or so goblins that were laid out in the passageway as well. 'A dozen dead…to only three of theirs. Pathetic. They had the superior positioning yes…but still…pathetic. We have truly let ourselves grow fat counting coins over the years.'

Turning his attention back to the deeper recesses of the vault where the Lestrange vault and several other high profile purebloods kept their precious belongings. A single goblin was lying down on his back, hands crossed over his stomach while several others were standing around a ten-foot wide black scorch mark that was embedded into the stone floor. "Bloodfist, what is going on here?"

The goblins that were standing around the scorch mark all turned as one and bowed lowly to him. "Director Ragnok." Bloodfist greeted him. "It appears that we have been attacked."

Ragnok growled lowly in this throat. "No shit. I can see that by the fucking bodies that I passed by on my way down here Bloodfist. Tell me…you are in charge of security in this section. How was it that such a fight broke out? And more importantly…why are only three wizards dead when a dozen of ours lay dead?"

Bloodfist sneered while the rest of the goblins in the room slowly backed away. It was no secret that there was no love lost between Bloodfist and himself. The fool was after his position as Director after all. As was to be expected. "I will not have my readiness be questioned by-"

Bloodfist words died on his lips as Ragnok made a slashing motion through the air with two fingers pressed together. His rival choked once, coughed, then blood started pouring freely through his white beard and down the front of his clothes. "Dustback." He called out while sidestepping and letting Bloodfist fall to the floor, stone dead. "You will be taking over Bloodfist duties from now on."

Dustback didn't even bother hiding his joyful sneer as he started down at the corpse. "As you wish, Director."

Looking down at the scorch mark once again, Ragnok knelt down next to the black stone. Rubbing a single finger along the soot, he brought his finger up to his nose and gave it a tentative sniff. "Hmm…the Hellfire runic spell. Nasty curse here. For both its victim and its caster. Who was it?"

"Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, Manager." Dustback answered immediately. "It was also Bellatrix that started this fight by attacking their escort sir."

"I see." Ragnok said, rising to his feet and wiping the soot off on his pants. "Then our course of action is set then." Waiting until he was sure that he had everyone's attention, he chose his next few words slowly and deliberately. "By attacking us, this New Sith Empire has declared war on the Goblin Nation as a whole. In response…we will ally ourselves with their enemies…the Guardians and Ziri Nox. Prepare our warriors for battle. And close all vaults that belong to known associates of the New Sith Empire and those associated with the Death Eaters. And send word throughout the rest of the Goblin Nation. It is time for us to stop sitting on our asses growing fat by counting coins. Go. Now!"

His last command sent all of the goblins running from the room, leaving only Ragnok and the lone goblin laying on his back. Walking over to the downed goblin, Ragnok stared down at him for a moment before rearing his foot back and planting it hard into the goblin's side. Which made the goblin on the ground cough and curl up into a tight ball. "Get off your lazy ass Griphook. We have work to do."

Griphook groaned as he rolled over and got up to his feet. "By the Stone Ancestors…one centimeter to the left and that bitch would've pierced my heart!"

"But she didn't." Ragnok growled, already tired of Griphook's complaining. "And you were well compensated by Nox for your role in this little ploy. Now stop whining like a prepubescent youngling. We have work to do."

"Yes Director." Griphook nodded, slowly getting to his feet. "I must say sir, when Nox came to us with this plan I was not expecting Bellatrix Lestrange to be her spy."

"And that was exactly why I knew it to be her." Ragnok replied, once again staring down at the blackened mark on the stone. "She was the Dark Lord's most loyal. None would ever suspect her of turning against him. Which was why she was the obvious choice for Nox to go after when she was searching for a spy within the Dark Lord's Inner Circle. And now that goblin blood has been drawn by members of the New Sith Order…the entirety of the Goblin Nation will throw their support behind Nox."

"And behind yourself as well, Director." Griphook finished for him as he dusted himself off. "As the leading goblin closest to this confrontation…you will be given command of the goblin nation. As is your right. Still…it is amazing that Nox convinced Bellatrix to kill herself. Or maybe the bitch just decided to do that on her own eh? Either way…we now get to confiscate the Lestrange vault and numerous other Vaults. After all…if everything goes to plan I doubt that I'll be able to look after Nox's accounts on my own anymore."

"After Nox takes her cut of the plunder." Ragnok cut in, not wanting Griphook to forget about the deal that'd been struck with Nox. Goblins were ruthless…but they were not oath breakers like wizards. And Ragnok would be damned if he let Griphook forget that just because he was upset at losing his first client.

"Of course." Griphook snarled as he marched up beside Ragnok. The two stared down at the black mark for a time before Griphook coughed and spit a wad of blood onto the pile. "Good riddance to her."

"Careful Griphook." Ragnok warned, a wicked smile coming across his face as he turned his back on the pile of ash and marched away. "I just said that Bellatrix Lestrange was dead. But where one life ends…another begins."

"What do you mean by that Director?" Griphook called out as Ragnok passed through the tunnel.

"I meant exactly what I said Griphook." Ragnok responded, not quite loudly enough for his fellow goblin to hear him. "Bellatrix Lestrange is dead…but the Empress's Wrath is still very much alive."

* * *

"Have Commander Gregor and his squad to be ready to drop the moment we are within range of Hogwarts." Nox said, staring down at the datapad in her right hand while marching quickly through the halls of the Temple with Admiral Hackett on her left flank and General Rex on her right. "He will be leading the vanguard into the heart of the New Sith Order's forces. Our objective is to cut their army in half. Give those within the castle time to eliminate their opposition before we fall back behind Hogwarts walls."

"Yes ma'am." Rex nodded before running off to see that her orders were relayed to proper personnel.

"You handle the men well, Grandmaster Nox." Admiral Hackett stated as the two of them made their way through the staging area where dozens of men and women, magicals and non-magicals, were preparing themselves for the upcoming fight.

"I've had quite a bit of practice." Nox replied as she continued to scroll through the data pad in her hand without looking up. "Both in this life and during my…previous life if you will."

The Admiral simply nodded his head in acknowledgement before he started scanning the room with a critical eye. Frowning slightly, he turned his attention back to him. "What is the round trip time by LAAT to Hogwarts? I should've asked this before, but I do not like the idea of leaving the first, or rather second, wave of our forces alone against an army of unknown size."

"Don't worry Admiral." Nox replied with a slight smirk as the two of them made their way towards the exit of the Temple. "We're not going to be leaving anything to chance with this fight. We're bringing every man or woman in our forces who can hold a gun or aim a wand in with one wave."

Hackett's brow furrowed. "How? Even with the LAATs, transport ships and the Wolfsbane; I do believe we will not have enough space to bring everyone with us."

Stopping after they were out of the Temple and onto the landing pad, Nox lowered her data pad and faced the Admiral. "Then it's good that those are not our only ships then Admiral."

A gust of wind blew across the landing pad, ruffling Nox's robes and making the Admiral instinctively reach up for his hat. Hackett's eyes widened to almost comical proportions as he saw what'd caused the gust in the first place. "Admiral Hackett," Nox said slowly, turning her back on the man and looking up into the sky. "I give you the _Satele Shan_ , the first Earth Intergalactic cruiser."

The ship hovering a few dozen meters above them was by far the largest ship Nox had been able to produce so far on Earth. In total, the ship measured just over three-hundred meters in length. The rear half of the ship was three times wider than the front half, due primarily to the two docking bays, that could each easily hold four fighters and one LAAT, which were attached to either side of the rear of the ship. The ship was designed to run on a skeleton crew of thirty personnel, but it had enough living quarters to support a crew of a two hundred and fifty. While not even close to the largest, or even most impressive ship, Nox had ever seen, she couldn't help but feel proud whenever she looked at it. For this was her ship.

"Incredible." The Admiral breathed, staring up at the ship and looking like a kid on Christmas morning for a moment before his face hardened once again. "How long have you had this ship? We could've used it some time ago."

"The _Satele Shan_ is fresh off the assembly line Admiral." Nox replied, not the least bit put off by the Admiral's tone. "In fact, it's not even finished yet. There are still a few things that need to be done before it can be considered complete."

Hackett tore his eyes away from the Cruiser and back to her. "You want us to take an incomplete ship into battle?"

"It's complete enough for what we need." Nox shot back. "The ship flies, its shields are operational and its railgun batteries, or Gauss batteries if you will, are operational as well. It will do for what we need it for. Primarily transporting our troops to the battle zone. And don't forget, we will have the F1-Alphas and Betas to act as escorts for the ship as well."

The Admiral's eyes widened fractionally at the mention of the Gauss batteries. "Last I heard, Gauss rifles were still in the research and development phase, let alone Gauss powered batteries on a ship. Have they been tested?"

"You forget Admiral…I can cheat and call upon technology that is centuries ahead of anything Earth could even dream of creating." Nox replied with a shrug. "And as for the weapons not being fully tested yet, we're in a war Admiral. You can consider this battle to be their field testing."

Appearing mollified, the Admiral took a few steps closer towards the ship. "Who's the Captain of her?"

"Until we find someone else…you are Admiral." Nox said nonchalantly, making the older man whip around and face her. "It only makes sense after all, that the Grand Admiral of our forces be stationed aboard the most powerful ship in our arsenal. Just try not to ding her up too much Grand Admiral Hackett…she is fresh of the assembly line after all."

She managed to take two steps away from the shocked newly promoted Grand Admiral before she was pulled up short as right in front of her, Winky popped into existence. "Mistress Nox!" Winky cried out desperately, a datapad clutched tightly in her hands. "It's be terrible!"

Snatching the pad away from the wailing house elf, Nox quickly read over the report. "Son of a mother fucking bantha."

"What is it?" Hackett asked as he stepped up beside her.

Not even bothering to turn towards him, she all but threw the datapad at the Admiral. "Vitiate appears to have anticipate our movements. Either that or, and this is more likely, he's covering all of his bases before launching his full out assault."

Taking, or rather catching, the datapad, Hackett stared down at its contents and Nox could feel his fear and anger increase exponentially as he read over its contents. "The dragons that were stolen…" Hackett read slowly. "He's unleashed them. And they're heading towards no less than a dozen heavily populated cities. We need to send our fighter squadrons to these cities and try to end them or at the least drive them off."

"Which is exactly what Vitiate wants us to do." Placing a hand on her head, Nox started hating the fact that she'd turned to the light so much. 'In the days of old…this decision would be simple. But now…now it is anything but simple.' "Whether he's aware of the fact that we know of his intended attack against Hogwarts is irrelevant. He's trying to divert our attention away from where he is going. And every unit we send away to combat these dragons lessons our ability to stand against his vanguard."

"And if we do nothing, how many innocents will die?" Hackett asked.

Grinding her teeth, Nox paced back and forth. They had no idea what type of forces Vitiate would be sending at Hogwarts. It could just be his magical forces…or it could be all of his forces. Including aircraft. And each fighter they sent away lessened their ability to control the air around Hogwarts. But on the other hand…could she live with the fact that she had the chance to try and save lives…and she did nothing? And they still had the _Satale Shan_. Their ace in the hole that she'd been hiding from everyone in the hopes of keeping it completely secret from Vitiate until she rammed it up his ass.

Coming to a sudden stop, Nox turned her eyes towards the Admiral, who hadn't moved an inch since giving his two cents. "Send two fighters only to each location to try and intercept the dragons before they reach the cities. Or at the very least to help the local forces in minimizing the damage that is about to be done."

"Yes ma'am." Hackett nodded before quickly turning away and activating his comm link that he kept on him at all times to relay her orders.

 _'Let's just hope that I don't come to regret this.'_ Nox thought as she turned and marched towards the LAAT that would be taking herself and several of the other former-Jedi Masters into the battle.

* * *

Grabbing hold of the all-too-familiar netting within the transport, Guardian Senior Master Obi-Wan Kenobi hoisted himself up into the LAAT alongside the twenty soldiers and magicals that were within. "Master Kenobi." Gregor greeted him as he settled himself into the body of the LAAT. "Good to see that you'll be joining with us sir."

"Good to see you as well Commander." Obi-Wan greeted back calmly as he began focusing in on the upcoming battle.

The familiar surge within his stomach died as he forced all thought and feeling from him and focused only on the Force as he quietly recited the Guardian Code in his mind. _'I am the wielder of the flame, protector of balance.'_ As the Guardian Code went through his head, he couldn't help but focus in on this line in particular. For he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that if Anakin had been raised by this philosophy, and not that of the Jedi, then his friend, his brother, his son; wouldn't have been seduced by the Dark side of the Force and the Emperor.

Needless to say…it was a bitter pill to swallow. But it was one that he, and all former Jedi for that matter, needed to accept. Darkness would always exist as long as there was light. One could not simply conquer the other. As long as one survived, so too would the other. It was why the Jedi had failed. And it would be why the Sith would fail. Both today and in the future.

Just as the last of the men and women boarded the LAAT, one last figure placed her hand into the netting and started to hoist herself up. Obi-Wan usually wasn't one who could be surprised easily…but this was definitely something he hadn't expected. "Narcissa?"

Narcissa didn't say anything as she pulled herself up into the LAAT and stood beside him. Her hand gripping the netting as if it was the only thing keeping her from bolting out the door. Which, judging by her mutely jumbled emotions, was a likely possibility. "I'm coming with you." She said, her voice betraying none of the nervousness he could sense from the normally stoic woman.

It was only because of his years of training that he managed to keep himself from wincing. "I do not believe that would be wise-"

"Because my husband and son are on the other side of this war we find ourselves in?" Narcissa said sharply, cutting him off as she turned towards him. There was a fire within her eyes. A fire that he recognized all too well. And for a split second it wasn't Narcissa standing before him, reprimanding him. Rather, it was Satine Kryze.

"Well let me reassure you, Master Kenobi," the image shattered and once again it was Narcissa standing before him. "You do not have to worry about that in regards to my husband, excuse me, ex-husband. Well, should that son of a bitch ever find himself in my line of sight again, I plan on using any number of hexes and curses that are anything but beneficial to his health. I am a Black, after all. And I know far more than my ex-husband than he would ever care to admit."

Obi-Wan could accept that. But her ex-husband wasn't his cause for concern. "I know that milady. And I'm not worried about what happen should you run across your ex-husband. My concern is what will happen should you cross paths with your son today."

Narcissa faltered ever so slightly. It was nothing more than a slight twitching of her eye and if one either wasn't looking for it or didn't know her they probably would've never even noticed. But he did. "Tell me Obi." There it was again…that name that she'd taken to calling him that caused a spike in his chest he thought long buried. "If you had a chance to prevent your friend, your brother…you're son…from doing what he did. Would you take it…or would you stand by the wayside and let someone else deal with him?"

It was a low blow, but an accurate one. "No…I would do whatever I could to try and prevent him from falling." He said quietly before turning towards the pilot. "Pilot, take off. And you," he said turning his attention back to Narcissa. "I want you to stay close by my side the entire time, and you will follow every word I say to the letter."

"Yes sir." Narcissa responded with just the slightest upturn of her lips.

 _'Force._ ' Obi-Wan breathed internally. _'If I didn't know better…I would say that she is Satine reincarnated.'_

* * *

Walking through the halls of Hogwarts Harry kept a constant surveillance of the area, both with his eyes and with the Force, as he and his Valkyries plus Nat, Gabrielle, and Astoria made their way towards the Great Hall. The soldiers had all already split off towards their intended staging points with Major Ryder and Lieutenant John Shepard leading their squads towards the astronomy tower while Lieutenant Jane Shepard, with Hannah as her guide, took her squads to the higher floors. Ron and Tracey had split off as well heading off in the direction of the seventh floor and the Room of Requirement.

"Okay…I will admit that this is more than a little surreal." Hermione commented as she nodded towards one of the dozens of portraits that were lining the walls of the hallway.

The portrait was depicting a witch and a wizard in the midst of a waltz, and both were frozen in time as if the portrait was nothing more than a non-magaical photograph. The state of the portraits was courtesy to Lieutenant Shepard, who with a single flick of his wand hand sent an almost un-noticeable pulse through the wall, freezing every portrait in place. And after a quick demonstration to everyone else, Harry and the others were able to disable Dumbledore's spies before they were ever noticed.

"I still can't believe that John was able to freeze all of the portraits with such a simple spell." Daphne commented as they kept moving. "Think of how much easier it would've been to get around back when we were in school had we known that spell."

"I don't think that would've been wise at the time, it would've alerted Dumbledore that someone was casting that spell." Harry pointed out, although had to admit that Daphne was right, it would've been infinitely easier to move around had they known that the portraits could be frozen with such a simple charm. But his mind wasn't on the past. He was completely focused in on the present. More precisely…what was about to happen. The voices drifting down the hall were becoming increasingly louder with each step they took. And with them, so too did the knot in his stomach tighten.

 _'You'll be fine Harry.'_ Ahsoka reassured him, her back straight and her head held high as she marched confidently beside him. _'We're all here with you.'_

Giving her a mental nod, Harry pulled himself up to his full height as they came upon the partially opened doors leading into the Great Hall. The sounds of voices talking over one another came pouring out from the crack at a level that was almost deafening. Pausing just before the doors, Harry turned and looked a back at the ones who were still with him.

Ahsoka was her usual calm and collected self, as was Daphne. Ginny was calm on the outside, but his bond with her told him that she was merely a duck on the pond. Hermione was her usually worrisome self, especially seeing as just who they were about to confront. Susan just seemed…determined. Luna had a dreamy smile on her face. Astoria seemed to be trying to adapt to a combination of her elder sister's and her Master's attitude. And Gabrielle and Nat were both staring around at the castle in open wonder.

"You all know what to do." Harry said quietly as he centered himself. "I'll stall the old coot until Daphne locates the Child. Once she does, we subdue and disarm the wannabe dark lords and ladies as well as the Child."

Everyone nodded, and with one last steadying breath, Harry straighten himself up to his full height and threw open the doors to the Great Hall fully with the slightest wave of his hand.

The sight that greeted their entrance was one that, if not given the present circumstances, Harry would've found incredibly amusing. The students and the professors within the Great Hall stopped what they were doing; some with food raised halfway to their mouths, as they all turned and stared at Harry and his girls. After the initial shock of their entrance wore off, new emotions started wafting through the hall like a wave: Fear, joy, amusement, despair, intimidation, and utter hatred. There were so many different emotions rolling off of the student body that it was impossible to discern just who was feeling what.

Marching between the long tables with Ginny and Ahsoka flanking him on either side, Harry made his way towards the head table at the far end of the hall. Dumbledore was already out of his seat. His eyes wide as he stared at Harry as he approached. McGonagall was staring at Harry in shock, but he couldn't help but notice the slight look of approval that shown through on her face. Mad-Eye Moody, who'd managed to retain his position as the Defense teacher, was staring at them with a slight grin while his magical eye spun widely. And the rest of the professors were staring at them with some manner of shock or confusion. All save one that was. Snape was staring at Harry with confusion and hatred.

"Harry…" Dumbledore called out.

"You're wards need some work Headmaster." Harry commented calmly as he stopped halfway down the length of the hall. "It only took us a few minutes to get past them."

Dumbledore blinked and appeared confused for a moment, but then his face morphed, taking on his typical 'grandfatherly look'. "But of course you were able to bypass the wards my boy. You are still students here at Hogwarts after all. But I will take your recommendation into consideration. And while a few weeks have already passed this term…I'm sure that you and your friends will have no problem catching up on your class work. Now, if you could all please find your seats amongst your houses we can continue with the feast. But you will need to change into your proper uniforms come morning before classes. And as for your other…friends. I'm sure we can find them accommodations for the night. And we can have Madam Pomfrey take a look at your eyes in the morning."

Harry was honestly…not sure what to say. He and girls were wearing their Guardian Force Armor that his mother had commissioned for them, as well as dark black cloaks. All of them had their lightsabers hanging out in the open attached to their belts, and most of them, namely Susan, Daphne and Ginny, had their wands drawn. And Harry, as he'd taken to doing since leaving Hogwarts months ago, was forgoing any type of glamour over his eyes. So his black and green eyes were plain for all to see.

 _'Okay…how thick is this Headmaster of yours?'_ Ahsoka asked in his head. _'I mean…I've been all across the galaxy…and I've never seen anyone this thick! I mean come on! A group of heavily armed people just waltz into your life during a war and all you can say is 'welcome back and classes start tomorrow'? Come on…'_

"I'm afraid that you're mistaken Headmaster. Which shouldn't be a new state for you." Harry shot back, his annoyance at the Headmaster for failing to realize the situation they were in creeping into his voice. "This is not a social call. Nor are we here to rejoin Hogwarts."

Dumbledore froze halfway into his seat as Harry's words reached him. "Oh my boy…perhaps we should head to my office and speak-"

"No, we won't." Harry said, cutting the old man off before turning to face the rest of the student body. "As I know some of you are aware of this, and we'll be dealing with that in a moment. But for those of you who don't listen closely. The New Sith Order is converging on Hogwarts. And just so we're all clear, they're coming here with one purpose in mind. To take over this school. And if you're pet Death Eater sitting beside you hasn't told you this already, then he is either one of two things. A shitty spy, or a traitor. Either way…he's useless."

"Harry!" Dumbledore cried out. "This isn't something that-"

Cutting the old fool once more Harry continued, "But regardless of Snape's ineffectual ability to spy, it is you Headmaster that is primarily responsible for why the Sith will be able to bypass the wards surrounding the school." Harry pressed on, turning and fixing the aging Headmaster with a glare.

That caused more than a few gasps and whispers to spread through the Great Hall as Dumbledore's face scrunched in on itself. "Harry, there is no impending attack. And I assure you that my primary concern is the safety of every student within these-"

"Then why did you support Lucius Malfoy's proposal to send all of the muggleborns back here to Hogwarts?" Harry asked accusingly. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Daphne had left her place near the back of the hall and was making her way between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. "While I do agree that it was a prudent idea to try and give sanctuary to any who needed it, did you not once stop for a moment to think? Lucius-fucking-Malfoy, the pureblood bigot himself suggesting– don't even fucking try it Draco."

Draco, who'd managed to get himself halfway out of his seat suddenly found himself frozen stiff. His wand arm half in his robes clearly clutching for his wand.

"Harry!" Dumbledore shouted even as Snape shot up to his feet and pulled his wand.

"Release him Potter." Snape hissed as he leveled his wand at Harry.

"If you would use your eyes and your brain, unlikely happenstance I know," Harry sighed. "You would notice that I'm not the one keeping your precious godson from doing something incredibly stupid. And besides…right now I'm not the one that you need to be concerned about Snape. You see…you failed something basic when confronting a supposed foe. You need to stay on your toes. Constant vigilance and all that."

The tip of a wand pressed itself firmly behind Severus's right ear. "The kid's right grease ball." Moody growled. "You didn't pay attention to your surroundings. Now drop the wand before I start getting creative."

All of the professors rose to their feet and turned sharply towards Moody and Snape. Dumbledore tore his eyes away from Harry and towards the ex-Auror. "Alastor…"

"Yeah yeah, I'm sure I'll be hearing about all this shite later Headmaster." Moody shrugged, seemingly completely unconcerned. "But the kid has a point. And if there is a threat coming to this school, we need to know about it. Harry, continue. And don't worry about this grease ball. If he opens his mouth again I'll give him a new hole to breathe through."

Keeping his face impassive, Harry stole a quick glance around the hall. Everyone was on edge. He could tell most of the senior students were already palming their wands and the ones who weren't were trying to console some of the younger students. _'This is getting out of hand fast.'_ He thought as he sought out Daphne, who was still slowly wandering between the tables although her pace had slowed considerably. _'Hurry up Daphne.'_

"What's done is done Headmaster." Harry continued on in a calm voice while carefully weaving the Force into every word he spoke in hope of creating a calming effect. "We cannot change the past no matter how much we wish it. But we must face reality. You've given Vitiate the means to break the wards surrounding this castle. And he means to take it. And we can't let that happen."

He saw someone move out of the corner of his eye and turned to face them. Surprisingly, at least to Harry, he found Neville standing on his feet. A look of grim determination set across his face. "We're with you Harry. What do you need us to do?"

"Mr. Longbottom." Dumbledore gasped even as many more students rose to their feet in support of Neville's decision. "Every return to your seats! There is no need for-"

Once again, Harry cut off Dumbledore, "Thank you Neville." Harry said, nodding to his ex-Housemate. "Thank you, all of you. And rest assured we can use your help. But for the moment I need you to remain sitting until we're ready."

Most everyone seemed confused by this, but after a quick nod from Neville everyone retook their seats. Dumbledore didn't appear too pleased by just how easily and quickly most of the student body was willing to follow Harry's lead. The old man's face looked like he'd just eaten a handful of those sour sweets he had in his office. "Harry…I must insist that you return as student of Hogwarts." Dumbledore said slowly. "If you don't…I won't be able to protect you from what you did at the end of the last semester."

Harry very nearly rolled his eyes. ' _So reason and the grandfatherly smile didn't work, so now he's trying blackmail. Too bad old timer, I've already been cleared.'_ "Unfortunately Headmaster, that threat doesn't hold much weight." Harry said, casting a glance towards the Slytherin table. "You see, Madam Bones, the Head of the DMLE, has already reviewed not only my memory but the memory of everyone who left with us last semester. And she concluded that I was well within my rights to respond with lethal force, given that the fool was trying to cast the Killing Curse at me. And as for rejoining Hogwarts…I can't. Not because I don't fully want too. But because I, much like Daphne and Susan, are Knights of the Guardian Order. And we cannot afford to be pulled from the front lines of this war simply to attend school once more."

Out of the corner of his eye, he said Daphne reach up and brush a lock of her hair behind her left ear. _'Finally, I don't know how much longer I would've been able to stall for. I was seriously starting to run out of things to say.'_

"And now the time for discussion is over Headmaster." Harry said, reaching into his robes and grabbing hold of his lightsaber and drawing it out into the open. Even though he left it inactive, the students in his general vicinity still drew back slightly and all of the professors who didn't already have their wands drawn drew theirs. "It's time for us to fix your mistake Headmaster. Namely letting marked Death Eaters into the school. And a Child of the Emperor."

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed to thin slits. "I assure you Harry, there are no Marked-"

"Oh just shut up you old fuck. The charade is over. The blond bitch has found me."

Though the voice wasn't Harry that cut off Dumbledore this time it drew everyone's attention. Every eye in the hall snapped towards the Hufflepuff table as a lone boy Harry's age stood up from table. Harry was completely taken off guard by the one who was standing, and as such all he could muster was a simple, "You?"

Justin Finch-Fletchley shrugged his shoulders, his face completely devoid of emotion as he stared around the hall. "Surprised Potter? You shouldn't be." Harry's classmate said as he stepped over the bench and locked eyes with Harry. "My Father chose us diligently to the last people you would expect. My parents couldn't believe it either. In fact, they kept denying who I truly was, even right up to the point where I ripped their still beating hearts out of their chests."

If anyone was still near Justin when he stood up, they'd moved as far away from him as possible by the time he'd finished speaking. The professors, even Moody who'd been keeping his wand trained on Snape, moved all of their attention to Justin as he calmly stepped up and over the table so that he was in the center aisle of the Great Hall along with Harry. "You're right, I shouldn't be surprised." Harry nodded, his finger itching towards the activation switch on his lightsaber. "But I thought that Vitiate had better sense than to select such an unimpressive wizard such as yourself."

Justin's face contorted slightly before he sighed. "Ah yes…prefight banter. Well, not that I care. After all, you're about to move aside and let me walk out those doors right now."

"Justin!" Dumbledore shouted, having finally coming back to his senses. "What are you doing young-"

"Shut up!" Justin shouted, spinning around on his heel, his wand snapping into his right hand. A sickly-green bolt of lightning shot out of his wand and sped towards the stain glass just above and behind the professors. "That was a warning old fuck." Justin growled as he turned back towards Harry, his iris completely yellow. "Now shut the fuck up while Harry and I talk. Oh, and Moody, if you even think of trying to get a spell off on my back I'll summon a student in-between the two of us before you can even think the first syllable of your spell. Now Harry…where were we?"

"You were just about to explain to me why I should let you walk out that door unopposed." Harry answered, sticking his thumb over his shoulder towards the doors.

"It's simple Harry," Justin shrugged. "You're a Jedi. That's why you're going to let me walk out that door."

At that, Harry merely raised an eyebrow. "Well, I guess that you truly are a Child of the Emperor, not that I doubted Daphne for a moment. But only a Child would know of a Jedi. But all the same, why does our supposedly being Jedi have anything to do with letting you walk away?"

Justin merely smiled as he put his hands behind his back. "Do you know there is another reason my Father insisted on Voldemort marking his servants in such a way? It's a…failsafe shall we say. Now…let me show you what it can do." Harry let his right foot slide back slightly as Justin raised his right hand and dark energy started swirling around his fist. "Death Eaters, servants of my Father. As his Child I command you…suffer."

Every student in the hall that Narcissa had named for them suddenly clutched at their left arms as the all doubled over in pain. Not even Snape was spared, as the potions teacher's face twisted in pain as he fell to his knees. "Let them go!" Dumbledore shouted, pulling out his wand and leveling it towards Justin's back.

Justin didn't even seem to care as he raised his left hand. A young Hufflepuff girl, who couldn't have been more than a second year, screamed as she was pulled out of her seat and suspended in the air between Justin and the professors. "Try it you old fuck."

Justin laughed as the dark energy in his right hand intensified and all of the marked students started bellowing in pain and the young girl he was holding behind him started thrashing wildly against the invisible bindings holding her in place. "You'll have to get around this young girl to hit me though. How good is your aim Headmaster? Not that good. Especially from this range. And even if you do try it, I'll just continue to intensify the pain all these pathetic fools are feeling until their brains are mush! Now lower your wands!"

The professors all looked towards Dumbledore for guidance. The aging Headmaster looked a century older than Harry could ever remember as he closed his eyes and lowered his wand. Almost as one, the rest of the professors, and the few students who'd drawn their wands, all lowered theirs as well. All save for Harry and his Valkyries, who all kept their wands out and lightsabers in hand.

"Perhaps you're hard of hearing Harry." Justin growled as his right fist clenched, making the marked students cry out again. "Unless you get the fuck out of my way, I'll torture them all into insanity. Stop this charade and just move already. My Father has told me enough about you Jedi to know that you won't let something like this come to pass. Not when you can stop it. Now. Move. Aside."

Harry didn't move to set down his wand or lightsaber. Nor did any of the other Guardians in the room. "What you say is true Justin." Harry nodded. "A Jedi wouldn't allow you to torture people like this, even if they were the enemies of the Jedi. So your plan is solid. But there is just one little problem with it."

Justin's face contorted in rage. "What?"

Smirking Harry activated his lightsaber, which was echoed by the activation of every other lightsaber in the hall. "We are not Jedi. You want to kill these wannabe Death Eaters and future murderers? Go ahead. Saves us the trouble of having to hunt them down in the future."

Justin's face fell before he tightened his fist once again. And again all of the marked students started to cry out in pain. But neither Harry nor any of the other Guardians so much as blinked. "Fine." Justin growled. "You don't care about these pathetic fools, I can respect that. But what about an innocent like…say this girl right here?" The young girl he'd been using as a shield between himself and Dumbledore cried out as she was whipped around and placed in-between Harry and Justin. "Just a simple twist of my wrist…and I can snap her neck like kindling! What does your pseudo-Jedi code have to say about that huh?"

 _'Harry.'_

 _'I know Ahsoka. But we can still turn this to our advantage.'_ Shooting a quick glance towards Daphne, his fellow Knight nodded once. Sighing, Harry deactivated his lightsaber and let his arm fall limply by his side as the other Guardians took their cue and deactivated their own lightsabers.

"I knew you were weak Potter." Justin smirked as he began walking towards the doors while making sure that the young girl stayed floating in the air between the two of them the whole time. "And that is why my Father is going to win this world in the end."

Harry ground his teeth to keep himself from saying anything as he watched Justin slowly inch his way backwards. "Justin." Harry called out just as his classmate was about to leave the Great Hall. "I've got a question for you."

Justin gave him a curious look. "What is it Potter?"

"When did I ever say that we came here by ourselves?"

Justin's eyebrows rose as the weight of Harry's words reached him. But by then it was far too late as a red streak of light shot out from around the corner of the door and struck Justin right in the back. The young girl, now free of Justin's hold, ran straight at Harry, and there was little Harry could do expect to catch the young girl. In his arms.

"Thank you…" The young girl mumbled, pressing her face into his chest. "You…you saved me."

Smiling down at the young girl, Harry rested a hand on her head. "Of course I did." Looking up he saw Lieutenant Jane Shepard enter the hall with Hannah beside her, both had wands out and trained on the unconscious boy on the ground. "Lieutenant, Hannah impeccable timing."

Jane merely shrugged her shoulders. "My boys have nearly finished with setting up, so I figured I'd come here and give you a hand. So…I take it this is the Child?"

"No." Harry said sharply.

Moving quickly, Harry roughly ripped the wand that was pointing at his ribs out of the little girl's hands before pushing her away from him. " _Flexuosi catenas."_

Golden chains materialized out of thin air and quickly wrapped themselves around the young girl, sending her to the floor. "Mr. Potter!" McGonagall yelled out in shock, but Harry wasn't paying attention to her as he kept his eyes, and wand, trained on the girl. The true Child of the Emperor.

"You tipped your hand too soon." Harry said, advancing on the young girl who was glaring up at him with unadulterated hatred. "First, you didn't fool Daphne for a second with Justin. Even I could see the subtle signs of the Imperius Curse. Second, you shouldn't have had him use you as a hostage. And third, you shouldn't have tried to pull your wand on me while you were pressed up against me."

The girl continued to stare up at him with pure loathing. "This changes nothing!" The girl screamed, thrashing in vain against the chains holding her down. "My Father will kill you! He'll kill all of you! And I'll laugh while he does! I'll laugh while he peels the skin from your bon-"

"Oh just shut up already." Ginny growled, snapping her wand out and sending a red stunning spell right in the girl's chest.

"Thanks Ginny." Harry nodded, patting his Apprentice on the shoulder.

"No problem, Master." Ginny smirked back as she moved towards the downed girl and proceeded to place even more binding charms on her.

Leaving her to the task at hand, Harry faced the rest of the students. Everyone, even most of the teachers, were staring at him. Some with apprehension, but most in awe. 'Shite…center of attention again.'

 _'You're a natural leader Harry.'_ Ahsoka sent to him. 'Embrace it.'

"Someone secure the marked students and take their wands from them."

To Harry's utmost surprise, just about half of the student body jumped up to follow his order. Even the Slytherins were helping by binding the marked students that'd been exposed by the Child and taking their wands from them. "Professor McGonagall." Harry called out while the students were securing the marked Death Eaters. "Hogwarts is an old castle, I'm sure it has some war time countermeasures. Please activate them."

McGonagall blinked at the order and for a split second Harry was nervous that she wasn't going to comply. But to his utmost surprise, McGonagall merely nodded. "Of course Mr. Potter. Hogwarts has a few tricks up her sleeve." Dumbledore turned towards McGonagall, a look of betrayal on his face. But it went completely ignored by the Deputy Headmistress. "How much time do I have to set them up?"

A loud explosion rocked the school, making almost all of the students cry out in surprise as the enchanted night sky over head lit up in flames. "We're out of time." Harry cursed as even more explosions crashed against the wards of Hogwarts. _'Shite…are they trying to bring the whole school down with the barrier?'_

 _'No…this is a Sith tactic Harry.'_ Ahsoka said as she and the other Valkyries quickly spread out to try and calm down the panicking students. 'They're trying to unnerve us before the true battle begins.'

Deciding to take a page out of Dumbledore's book, Harry pointed his wand towards the ceiling and let loose a sonic blast. "Everyone sit down!" Harry shouted, letting the Force seep into his voice. Almost instantly, every student retook their seats. "They're not trying to destroy the castle. All of this," he said, waving towards the ceiling as another wave of fire stretched across the night sky. "Is just to try and make us panic and make rash decisions. Professor Hagrid! Do you know of a secure location for both our marked students and the young years?"

Hagrid, clearly startled at having been called out, nodded. "Aye Harry. I know of a place."

"Good." Harry nodded. "Everyone from first to fifth year are to follow Professor Hagrid and Professor Sprout to this secure location. Nat, Astoria and Gabrielle; you three will go with them as well. Fifth years, make sure that our resident Death Eaters don't have any foolish notions of joining the fight. Madam Pomfrey please go with them as well and set up a makeshift field hospital. We're going to need a place to send wounded soon. And take Justin with you as well and start treating him for exposure to the Imperius Curse.

"Sixth and seventh years, if you want to go with the younger years I'm not about to stop you. But if you want to fight, then stay here and seek out either Professor Moody or Lieutenant Shepard here behind me and they'll assign you to an area. Professor McGonagall, get to setting up the defensive measures now. Professors Flitwick, Sinistra and Vector. See to setting up some extra defensive measures, I don't know how much longer this barrier will hold out for especially as we don't know what kind of damage the Child of the Emperor managed to inflict on them. Guardians with me, we're heading to battlements with Major Ryder. Let's move."

He vaguely heard Dumbledore calling out for him, but he paid it no mind as he turned on his heel and marched out of the Great Hall with his Valkyries plus Hannah following behind him. Pulling out his commu-link, he set the channel and brought it up to his mouth. "Knight Potter to Major Ryder, what's going on out there?"

 **"The Sith are here Knight Potter, and they're not holding anything back it looks like."** Major Ryder replied after only a second's hesitation. **"They've got fighters in the air and a big ass fucking dragon as well. On the ground it looks like they've brought every person, magical and non-magical, they have. Sniper teams in the towers have also reported at least three tanks and a full artillery unit as well. This barrier had better hold out until Grandmaster Nox arrives with our reinforcements, otherwise this is going to be a real short campaign."**

Cursing under his breath, Harry and his girls made their way out into the courtyard. "Grandmaster Nox shouldn't be too far away by now." _'I hope.'_ "The professors of the school are working on activating the school's defensive protocols and getting the non-combatants to a safe location. Those who are willing to fight are being escorted into position by Lieutenant Shepard and Auror Moody."

 **"Good. I'm not thrilled about kids fighting…but right now I'm willing to accept whatever help we can get."**

"Speaking of, where do you need us?"

 **"On the front lines taking out as many of these bastards as you can."**

"Copy that," Harry nodded, shooting a quick glance back at the girls fooling him. "Let's move out!"

* * *

Standing at the head of the Great Hall, Dumbledore was left speechless and helpless as he watched Harry completely ignore his call as the young man walked out of the hall. _'How could this have all gone so wrong?'_ He wondered as he watched helplessly as nearly a decade and a half of planning left with the boy. _'How…'_

"You heard Mr. Potter!" McGonagall called out, surprising him out of his stupor. "Hagrid, see to it that the young years are escorted to the lower levels. Sixth and seventh years report to Professor Moody and…Lieutenant Shepard was it? Yes, and Lieutenant Shepard. Filius, Septima, Aurora. Please see about casting another shielding layer underneath the barrier."

The students in the hall all started scrambling to follow the orders, and as they did Dumbledore felt himself losing more and more control over the situation. 'This can't happen!' Dumbledore thought desperately. 'Let the muggles fight…but if these children fight…how many will die? How many magical lines, on both sides, will cease to exist! We can't let this happen!'

"Minerva." Dumbledore called out, stopping his Deputy Headmistress as she walked around the table. He hadn't even realized it, but they were the only two professors, save for an unconscious Severus thanks to a quick stunning spell by Alastor, at the head of the Great Hall. "We can't-"

"We have to Headmaster." Minerva countered him harshly. "Potter is right. If we don't fight we will all die here and now." Her face softened, no more than a slight softening around the corner of her eyes, but it did soften. "I don't like this either Albus, but we have no choice. I understand this…but I don't know if you do."

Walking back up to the table, Minerva fixed him with a hard glare, her soft eyes vanishing completely. "I don't know what happened to you, Albus, during your battle with Grindelwald, but you've changed. And not for the better. Before you took a hard stance on any witch or wizard with dark inclinations. But now…now you'll bend over backwards to ensure that those witches and wizards get a second, third or even fourth chance. And while you do, innocents suffer. Now you can either return to the man you were before that battle, the man I grew up respecting. Or…you can put your head in the sand again and leave it there. But the choice is yours alone…just like this is my choice." And with that, Minerva turned her back on him and marched purposefully out of the great hall.

As her dark robes disappeared around the large doors, Dumbledore realized that he was completely alone in the hall, save for an unconscious Severus. Sinking heavily down into his seat, Dumbledore stared out numbly at the Great Hall. It wasn't right. He was the leader of the light. How could everyone turn their back on him?

But even as the thoughts of betrayal swirled around in his head, so too did Minerva's parting shot. _'You've changed, Albus. And not for the better.'_

* * *

Running up onto the landing of the seventh floor, Ron skidded to a stop right in front of the blank space of wall that hid the Room of Requirement. 'Thank Merlin Master Kento insists on daily physical exertion.' Ron thought as he realized with a start that he'd just ran the entire length of Hogwarts without even getting slightly winded.

Beside him, Tracey didn't seem any the worse for wear either. Although if he was being truthful, he might've not even noticed if his girlfriend was tired at the moment. The armor and robes Grand Master Nox had given them was…more than slightly form fitting. "Ron…focus. My eyes are up here and the door is in front of us. Neither of which are located near my tits or arse."

"Sorry," Ron mumbled, not truly feeling sorry in the least. "Now…Master Nox said that we should be able to locate the room by simply-"

A thunderous explosion echoed throughout the hall and the rest of the school, making both Ron and Tracey cover their ears as light shined into the hall through the far window as if the sun had suddenly risen. "Bloody hell," Ron gaped, staring out the far window as the light quickly disappeared. "That…that sounded like an explosion."

"Because it was one nitwit." Tracey scoffed, cuffing him upside the head. "Which means the Sith are here, and we're out of time."

"Not yet we aren't." Ron replied, shaking his head and starting his march back and forth in front of the blank space of wall. _'I need the room that Tom Riddle hid his Horcrux in. I need the room that Tom Riddle hid his Horcrux in. I need the room that Tom Riddle hid his Horcrux in.'_

The wall in front of them wavered for a moment before ceasing and revealing a large set of thick wooden doors. "See?" Ron smirked at his girlfriend as he grabbed hold of the door handles and pulling on them. "Easy as…bloody fucking hell."

The room beyond stretched on for nearly the length of a Quidditch Pitch. Although it was hard to say that for certain as just about every inch of the room, save for several narrow paths, was filled with books, clothes, furniture and everything in-between. "Well…this is lovely." Tracey sighed as she pulled out her wand. " _Illud mihi Tom Riddle Horcrux. Accio Tom Riddle Horcrux!_ "

Both watched with bated breath as Tracey's wand spun in the palm of her hand for a second before stopping as the spell failed to locate what was requested.

 _'Anti-summoning and anti-locating spells most likely.'_ "Well," Ron muttered. "It was worth a shot. Guess we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way."

Tracey though, didn't appear to be ready to give up. "What did Grandmaster Nox say that his previous Horcruxes were?"

Ron paused and scratched the side of his head. "Umm…a family ring…Slytherin's locket…a diary. And something in Bellatrix's Vault, which she wasn't concerned with for some reason."

Tracey bit down on her lip as she stared around the room. "Valuable...his family's ring…Slytherin's locket were both incredibly valuable. Maybe that is the key."

Ron winced. "Not sure how that is supposed to help us."

But Tracey wasn't listening, instead she stepped further into the room. " _Illud mihi expensive artifact_." This time her wand spun around in her palm three times before stopping once, then spinning again before stopping in a different direction. And then in spun again before stopping in yet another direction. "Three directions." Tracey muttered. "It's better than searching through everything."

Pulling out his own wand, Ron repeated what Tracey had done with the same results. "How do we know any of these three are what we're looking for? We've already proven that the Dark Lord put an anti-location charm on whatever it is."

"You really didn't pay attention much in school did you Ron?" Tracey asked as she started off in the direction of the first 'expensive artifact'. "When you charm an item not to be located, you need to specify what cannot be located. So when the Dark Lord placed the charm on the Horcrux, he had to specify that 'Tom Riddle's Horcrux' couldn't be located. Unfortunately the same doesn't apply to anti-summoning charms. But at least this way…we've got a general idea of where to look. Now stop standing there with your foot in your arse and get moving! We need to find this damn thing before Master Nox shows up. And I don't know about you, but I really don't want to have to explain to her how we couldn't complete the task she'd assigned to us."


	25. Chapter 25

**Welcome back everyone! I apologize once again for the late delay but…life.**

 **Decided to release this chapter to go along with the 'Last Jedi'. Here's to hoping that it's not a shot for shot remake of 'Empire Strikes Back' (cough-New Hope and Force Awakens-cough).**

 **Anyway, hope that you all enjoy! There are probably two more chapters after this one, and they will be quite long if I'm to get everything I want into them. So hopefully I'll be able to get them out sooner rather than later. Happy holidays everyone!**

 **And lastly, a huge thank you to my beta's HowInMadHowie and DustanXenon.**

 **Chapter 25**

Standing on the ramparts over the front gate, Major Ryder watched as shells, missiles and…magical spells impacted the shields surrounding the school. As he watched the fire spread across the sky, he couldn't help but think that under any other circumstance, such a sight might be considered beautiful to watch.

"Major!"

Turning his head to the side, nodded towards the Sergeant that'd approached him. "Report Sergeant."

Giving him a quick salute, the Sergeant stood at attention. "Major, both GAU-19's are set up on either side of the gate. Sniper teams in towers one, two and three have all reported in and are ready. And Lieutenant Shepard's team has finished their preparations in tower four."

 _'That was fast. And thank god for those seemingly never-ending packs Grandmaster Nox supplied us. We would never have been able to transport all this heavy equipment here without them.'_ Ryder thought as he nodded to the Sergeant. _"Very well Sergeant. Resume your post."_

"Yes sir!" The Sergeant shouted, snapping a salute to Ryder, which he returned in kind.

Just as he turned his attention back to the sky overhead, he heard three almost inaudible footfalls behind him. Turning around, he wasn't surprised by who was behind him. "Knight Potter, Knight Tano. Apprentice Weasley." He nodded to each of the three seemingly inseparable Guardians in turn.

"Major." Potter responded politely as he stepped up beside Ryder and turned his face towards the sky. "Everything is proceeding as hoped. The younger years, and the marked students, are being led to a secure location and will be looked after by one of the Professors, as well as our three young Apprentices. Lieutenant Jane and Auror Moody are putting the older students who've volunteered to fight into position as we speak. And the Deputy Headmistress is activating some of the castle's defensive measures."

Nodding, Ryder couldn't help but admire the pose the boy was keeping. He'd known battle hardened infantry commanders who commanded less of a presence than the teenager beside him now. There was no doubt in his mind, that should this young man survive this coming war, he would be a figure of influence known across the world for the rest of his life. And he also knew without a doubt that if he himself survived this battle that he would be right beside this boy until the end.

"What sort defenses does this castle have?" Ryder asked.

"Unfortunately, I'm not sure." Potter answered. "But considering just who designed this castle, and in which era it was built in, I imagine Hogwarts has more than a few unpleasant tricks up her sleeves for unwanted guests."

"You would be quite correct with that assumption Mr. Potter."

Ryder's weapon was in his hand and he was halfway around before he felt something wrap around him and freeze him in place. "I apologize Major Ryder." Harry said calmly as the invisible force hold him disappeared. "But I couldn't have you shooting the Deputy Headmistress. And Professor McGonagall, it's unwise to apparate right next to trained soldiers just before a battle."

McGonagall, for her part, had a slightly paler complexion than normal as she realized just how close her actions brought her to physical harm. "I– understand Mr. Potter." McGonagall nodded to him before turning towards the Major. "I apologize sir if I startled you. That was not my intent."

"Understood ma'am." Ryder nodded back to the elder woman. "But for the sake of myself, my men and yourself; please do not do that again."

"I understand…Major, was it?" McGonagall asked, to which Major Ryder nodded. "I will limit apparating in you and your men's presence until this fight is over."

"It would be appreciated Professor." Harry said as he turned towards his old Head of House. "You said that Hogwarts had defenses, Professor. If so, now would be the time to show us what they are."

McGonagall nodded her head and turned back towards the courtyard. "Indeed, Mr. Potter. In fact, I have adjusted the wards to allow yourself and the other's you brought with to apparate within the grounds as well. And as for what else Hogwarts can do, just watch and learn young Mr. Potter." Pulling her wand out of her left sleeve, McGonagall held her wand above her head and parallel to the ground. "Hogwarts…as my duty of Deputy Headmistress I hereby call upon you to protect your charges! _Piertotum Locomotor_!"

It started as low groan of stone against stone. But soon, the noise was almost deafening as it seemed the entire castle started groaning. The men Harry had brought with him were all looking around, clearly confused as they tried to pinpoint exactly where the noise was coming from. As for Harry, he was momentarily stunned as a wave of pure Force energy washed through him and settled into every inch of the castle giving it an ethereal glow that was beyond beautiful.

A single loud crash startled Harry out of his revere as he whipped around, lightsaber in his hand ready to face the threat. But instead of a threat, all he found was a single stone soldier, one that'd been lining the walls of Hogwarts, kneeling on courtyard's ground. Its halberd held aloft and ready for battle. A second crash announced the arrival of another stone soldier, this one armed with a sword and shield. Then a third as another with a halberd landed on the ground.

Looking up, Harry was struck dumb as he watched the stone soldiers step out from the wall, fall to the ground, and right themselves as if they had a mind of their own. Once the walls had been nearly vacated of every soldier, the stone guardians of Hogwarts began to march five abreast out of the courtyard, through the gates, and out onto the long stone bridge that served as the primary access point for Hogwarts.

"I…bloody hell Harry." Ahsoka breathed as they watched the stone soldiers making their way down the bridge. "I love the magic of this world. Utterly brilliant."

"Thank you for that assessment…Ms. Tano wasn't it?" McGonagall asked, to which Ahsoka nodded absentmindedly, her eyes still watching the moving statues. "Hogwarts will do its best to protect her children, Major. We have nothing to fear now."

* * *

Standing on a high ledge overlooking Hogwarts, Voldemort watched as a combination of muggle and magical attacks impacted the barrier protecting the school. He felt a slight wave of annoyance flicker through him as he noticed that, despite everything they were throwing at the barrier, it was still holding strong.

 _'Calm yourself, my Voice. Everything is proceeding according to plan.'_ The Emperor's voice sounded within his mind.

 _'The barrier still stands, my Emperor.'_ Voldemort thought back, his frustration seeping into his thoughts _. 'The Child failed. Should've never trusted a muggleborn to such a delicate task.'_

 _'My Child may have failed in this last task, but she did provide me with some interesting information.'_

 _'Yes…Potter is back at Hogwarts. And he brought his bitches with him._ ' Voldemort snarled as he watched the barrage continue against Hogwarts's shield.

 _'Yes. But that is not all.'_ The Emperor responded _. 'Where the son is, the mother will not be far behind.'_

Voldemort felt a chill settle over his person. Everyone always said that the one wizard that he feared was Dumbledore. But that wasn't quite correct. He respected Dumbledore's power, and therefore was never stupid enough to openly confront the wizened headmaster in a one-on-one duel. But Nox…that was a different story. He'd been wary of her ever since he'd learned of her existence, but never truly considered her a viable threat. That stance however was quickly altered after he became the Voice and the Emperor informed him of Nox's true past. And after hearing of her exploits…he did fear her slightly. Not that he would ever admit it aloud of course.

 _'I thought that was why we sent Nightshade out to attack the muggle cities with her dragons.'_ Voldemort thought, looking overhead as one of the modified dragons swept back down from the clouds and bathed the barrier in a blanket of dragon fire _. 'If she failed to pull Nox and her allies away from this battle-'_

 _'I never expected Nightshade to pull Nox completely out of this fight.'_ The Emperor said curtly. _'Rather, Nightshade's purpose was to weaken the force that Nox would be able to send against us. We will still have to confront Nox and her so-called 'Guardians'. But this will work in our favor. Dumbledore is here. Potter is here. And soon Nox and her Jedi allies will be here as well. All of our enemies in one location. And we will crush them all. One at a time until none are left to stand against us.'_

Voldemort felt the corners of his lips turn upwards. _'So it's a race then Master. We just need to defeat Potter and Dumbledore before Nox arrives. And when she does…it will be the sight of her dead son hanging from the walls of Hogwarts.'_

A fire suddenly burst from within Voldemort's chest. A pain of near unimaginable proportions coursed through every fiber of his being as he was left standing stock still, mouth open and his eyes rolling back into his head. Just as Voldemort felt his knees begin to buckle, the Emperor forcibly took control of his body, straightening it so that none would suspect anything was wrong.

 _'It seems that Darth Bellatrix has failed in her task.'_ The Emperor's voice was just barely able to reach him through the fog of pain that'd clouded his soul. _'And yet another of your Horcruxes has been destroyed. And now you only have one left. The one you left hidden with Hogwarts.'_

 _'We…we must act Master!_ ' Voldemort cried from within the prison that was his own mind. He knew better than to try and retake control once the Emperor had taken over. He'd made that mistake only once before, and it was a mistake that the Emperor made him pay dearly for. _'If…if they manage to destroy the diadem-'_

 _'They have been at this school for four years and have yet to locate your Horcrux Voldemort.'_ Vitiate chided him. _'But…it would not do well to have you weakened further. Now watch Voldemort…as you see that my Child did not fail in the slightest.'_

Voldemort's moved beyond his control as he turned around to face his followers. **"Azcarin. Cease the bombardment."**

The Wrath nodded before turning around and barking out orders. Less than a minute later the muggle fighters and the dragon that'd been flying over Hogwarts veered off course and away from the school and the artillery ceased their bombardment, leaving the valley in a dead silence.

 _'Now watch my Voice.'_ The Emperor spoke to him as his body moved towards the edge of the cliff. _'And know my true power.'_

Voldemort felt his wand fall into his outstretched fingers as the Emperor used his body like a puppet. He could feel the buildup of pure magical energy being pulled into his hand and wand in a manner that only the Emperor himself could manage. The air around him crackled and darkened as more and more power gathered within him. And then, without a word or movement, all the energy shot forth out of his wand in a single black bolt of pure magical energy. The bolt sailed across the valley unimpeded until it slammed home against Hogwarts barrier and disappeared.

For a moment it appeared as if nothing had happened. But then a single large glowing crack appeared on the surface of the barrier where the spell had stuck it. The crack expanded and spider webbed outwards until the entire shield was covered in glowing cracks. And then, all at once, the shield shattered like glass and disappeared as if it'd never existed in the first place. Unfortunately, the shield wasn't the only victim. Voldemort, as amazed as he was by the display of power, could only stare blankly down at the blackened and ruined stick that was once his wand.

 _'This was a useless tool.'_ The Emperor remarked, throwing his now useless wand to the ground. _'Soon you will lay your hands on the wand that was destined to be held by my Voice.'_

 _'Yes, my Emperor.'_ Voldemort mentally nodded as he felt his body turn around and face his followers.

 **"Begin the assault."**

* * *

Standing on the ramparts, Harry watched slack jawed as the barrier was, for lack of a better word, shattered with only a single spell. "Well," Harry breathed, staring up at what was left of the quickly dissipating shield. "That didn't last nearly as long as we hoped it would."

Ryder started barking out orders, which his men were following without a second thought. McGonagall however, she was staring up at the now clear night sky with horror in her eyes. "He…he destroyed the barrier…with a single spell."

"That is the power of the Emperor, Professor." Harry said plainly as he stared out over the long bridge that was packed with hundreds of stone soldiers. "And it's one of the many reason why we have to end him here and now before he can become even more powerful."

A loud roar echoed across the landscape as dozens of giants, swinging clubs the size of small trees, ran towards the bridge. The stone soldiers at the end of the bridge moved as one, setting themselves into a defensive line with their pikes raised ready to meet the approaching threat.

Just as the giants stepped foot onto the end bridge, a dozen black clouds passed overhead just above them. Multicolor streaks of light shot out from the black clouds, striking and destroying the stone soldiers to try and clear a path for the giants.

"Major." Harry called out.

"Already on it Knight." Major Ryder responded as he tapped the two gunners manning the machine guns that'd been bolted to the ground. "Open fire men! Concentrate on the black clouds and don't let those fuckers get close!"

The gunner's replies were lost in the sound of gunfire as both GAU-19's let loose, firing off hundreds of rounds at the quickly approaching Sith forces. Walking so that he was standing just behind the two gunners, with Ginny and Ahsoka on either side of him, Harry drew his wand and aimed it skywards. _"Interficiam abyssi."_

The overpowered dark red cutting curse left the end of Harry's wand like a bullet from a gun, cutting through the air until it cut clean through one of the pockets of black mist flying through the air. The mist instantly dissolved, revealing a person that was wearing pitch black robes…and was cleaved cleanly in two.

Scanning the air, Harry fired off several more cutting curses, each one taking down a misted Death Eater in midair while beside him Ginny and Ahsoka started taking down their fair share of the flyers as well. Just as Harry was about to fire off his seventh cutting curse, he noticed something. A small speck on the horizon, but one that was steadily getting larger and larger.

"Ginny, Ahsoka! Joint shield now! _Protego_!" Ginny's and Ahsoka's spells echoed his own, creating a blue opaque bubble that surrounded not just the three of them, but every soldier on the wall as well.

The moment the shield slammed in place, the small speck that'd been on the horizon, which was then close enough to be easily identified as a fighter, let loose a pair of missiles that were coming straight for them. The missiles impact against the shield was more than a little jarring as the three Guardians were literally forced to take a step back as their shield was covered in a wall of fire.

"Lieutenant Shepard!" Major Ryder shouted into his comm link as the fire rolled off the shield. "Take that son of a bitch out before he can make another pass at us!"

Harry couldn't hear the response that was given, but as the fighter started to bank hard in order to make another pass, several bright lights shot out from the astronomy tower. One of which caught the fighter dead center and turned it into a ball of flames. "Good work Lieutenant." Ryder nodded as he turned his attention back to the bridge. By that point the giants, despite the efforts of the stone soldiers, had managed to cross nearly a third of the bridge. "Continue firing! I don't want those guns to stop unless you're reloading!"

"Yes sir!"

* * *

Standing on the edge of the cliff, Azcarin watched as the fight for Hogwarts progressed. Their giants were making steady progress across the bridge, however their approached had been slowed considerably by the gun emplacements just above the main gate. Emplacements that certainly hadn't been there before this night. _'Very clever Nox.'_ Azcarin nodded as he watched yet another giant succumb under the barrage of spells and bullets coming from the castle. _'I wonder…just how many men did you send in besides your son in order to set up these defenses?'_

 **"Blackwood."**

Tearing his eyes away from the battle, and the fun in his opinion, he watched as Blackwood stepped forward and sunk down on a knee. "Yes, my Emperor?"

 **"The tower."** The Emperor said plainly, without taking his eyes off of the battle. " **They have snipers and at least one well trained wizard. Kill them all."**

Blackwood rose from his kneeling position and gave the Emperor a wide smile. "As you wish, my Emperor." He bowed lowly and disappeared in a puff of black mist, but not before shooting Azcarin a last parting look that almost screamed, 'I got chosen over you'.

 _'Fucking idiot.'_ Azcarin growled, his grip unconsciously tightening on his lightsaber. _'He doesn't have a clue what a true battle is! This is just a fucking skirmish. A true battle destroys worlds!'_

 **"Patience, Azcarin."** The Emperor chided him without turning around. **"Despite his many uses and talents…Blackwood is still but a pawn. And the pawns always go first. When the time has come, you will have your fair share of bloodletting my Wrath."**

"Of course, my Emperor." Azcarin nodded as he turned his attention back fully to the battle. _'Soon…but not soon enough for my tastes.'_

* * *

After having set the student volunteers into position with the help of the ex-Auror Alastor Moody, Jane Shepard pulled back to the rear bridge that connected the castle to the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. 'Honestly,' Jane sighed, shaking her head as stepped out into the night and came to a stop just at the beginning of the bridge. 'Why would they call it the 'Forbidden Forest?' I mean, I get the fact that there are a lot of big creatures in there, but still, you could call it something different. Calling it the 'Forbidden Forest' is almost like daring a teenager to wander in and see what makes it so dangerous.'

"Ma'am, they're here."

Giving herself a mental shake, Jane forced her attention back to the here and now. Her man wasn't wrong. The supporters of the New Sith Order were starting to file out from the tree line. First there were only a handful. Then there were several dozens. Then there were easily over a hundred plus with the number steadily rising.

"Fuck me sideways." One of her men breathed, as he took a knee and readied his weapon. "That…is a lot of cannon fodder."

"Unfortunately." Jane nodded.

She and the other officers had spent countless hours over the past months in briefings with Grand Master Nox and the, former Jedi, now Guardians from beyond the stars. During these briefings, they were given every scrap of information regarding the Sith that they had. Their motivations. Tactics. Power structure. Anything and everything. And judging by those briefings, her man wasn't wrong. These idiots were nothing more human shields until the true Sith stepped foot onto the field.

"Prime the charges." She commanded as the line of men and women reached where she knew the edge of the barrier was located and stopping just short of it.

One of the more idiotic of the Sith followers yelled something at them and charged at the bridge, only to run headlong into the barrier and bounce back flat on his ass. "Well…I guess we can figure out the average intelligence level of our enemies." Jane remarked dryly as she watched as several others pulled out their wands and started throwing spells at the barrier. "Corporal, are the charges primed?"

"Yes ma'am." The Corporal nodded, holding up a detonator in one hand. "Just waiting for your order ma'am."

A loud cracking noise came from overhead, making Jane snap her eyes skywards. The barrier was…fracturing in a spider web pattern that was rapidly heading towards the ground. "Get your finger on that button Corporal." Jane breathed as she watched the fractures descend all the way to the ground before the barrier completely shattered. Leaving the school undefended against the Sith.

The members of the Sith that'd been waiting on the either side of the bridge gave of a triumphant yell before they surged forward and onto the bridge. "Conserve your ammo boys." Jane said as her men raised their weapons in preparation to fire. "We'll need every round we can spare if we want to survive the night."

Pulling out her wand, Jane waved it in a lazy circle before her. The air directly in front of her circled with her wand in a whirlwind pattern before solidifying into a boulder that was as tall as she. With a second flick of her wand, the boulder was sent rolling down the bridge. The boulder took up nearly two-thirds of the interior of the bridges width, leaving the advancing Sith next to no room to maneuver around it.

"Watch a little too much Indian Jones growing up ma'am?" One of her men joked lightly as Jane and her squad watched the boulder rapidly approach the Sith.

Just as the boulder reached the halfway point of the bridge, it exploded in a cloud of dust and fractured stones. "Doctor Jones never had that type of trick up his sleeve." Jane cursed as the Sith forces kept advancing. Using her wand to draw a box in the air, Jane created a shield over the end of the bridge and took a step back. "Corporal. Blow it."

Nodding, the Corporal pressed down on the detonator. "Fire in the hole!"

The entire bridge shook as the explosives that'd been strategically placed along the support structures of the bridge all detonated at the same time. The Sith that were on the bridge had only a second to look startled before the bridge started to give way beneath their feet. She was just barely able to make out the man would been leading the charge. His eyes widened to almost comical proportions before the bridge gave way completely and he was caught in the debris falling down in the ravine below.

"Fall back to secondary positions." Jane commanded as the dust from the explosion began to settle, giving her an unobstructed view of the other side where more than two thirds of the original Sith forces remained.

"Yes ma'am!" Her men shouted as they began to systematically pull back into the school while keeping each other covered.

Just as Jane was about to enter the school, another explosion rocked the grounds, drawing her attention skywards. The top of the astronomy tower, the same tower that her twin brother was stationed, was falling to pieces as flashes of green, red and yellow lights came from within.

Her first instinct was to apparate right up to the top of the tower and see to her brother. But that instinct was crushed by years of discipline and training. _'He's alright.'_ She said to herself as she pulled back into the school with her squad _. 'Jon has his duty…just as I have mine.'_

Setting herself up behind cover, she nodded towards her men and the half dozen sixth and seventh year student volunteers that she'd stationed just within this entrance. "No one gets past us." She said, drawing her sidearm in her left hand while holding her wand in her right.

* * *

Standing in the astronomy tower overlooking the battle going on below, Lieutenant John Shepard watched through the scope of his sniper rifle as the giants slowly made their way through the plethora of stone soldiers standing on the bridge leading up to the gates of Hogwarts. "Higgins, big ugly. Third from the front."

"Yes sir." Higgins nodded, tilting his own rifle just slightly as he took aim the given target.

Through his scope, Jon watched as the giant staggered as Higgins shot took him right at the base of the neck. The beast opened his mouth and let out a cry of agony. His cry was cut short as John put his follow up shot right through the giant's open maw, blowing out the back of its head. The beast staggered for a moment before toppling over the side of the bridge, taking the giant that'd been just behind it down with it.

Catching a blur out of the corner of his scope, John quickly maneuvered so he could line up his shot on the black mist that was barely visible against the night sky. Leading the target, he took a breath before pull the trigger. The mist evaporated immediately, and he caught sight of a woman falling out of the mist and to her death. "Nice shot LT." Higgins said without removing his eye from his sight. "Looks like they've got some more of the big guys at the end of the bridge."

"Copy that." Shepard acknowledge, moving his sight towards the end of the bridge where no less than a dozen giants were standing, waiting for their chance to proceed single file due to their large size. "Primary target is the one in the lead."

"Copy that LT."

Lining up the crosshairs to the base of the creature's neck, Shepard took a low breath. "Fir-"

The world exploded around him as the roof to the astronomy tower crashed inwards, sending stone and wood debris all over Shepard and his squad of snipers. Rolling over onto his back, Shepard brought his rifle around ready to face the new threat. But the cloud of dust and debris was so thick that he could barely even see the end of his rifle let alone what'd dropped in on them.

"Shit." Shepard hissed, scrambling to his feet, his eyes ever searching the slowly falling dust.

"LT! There's someon-" Higgins shouted just before a green streak of light pierced through the dust heading towards his voice. For a brief moment, Higgins was illuminated by the green light as it struck him dead in the chest. The Private looked stunned as he stared blankly ahead before his body fell backwards over the railing and into the night sky.

"Fuck." Shepard cursed as several more killing curses emerged from the swirling dust, one of which he just barely managed to dodge by rolling further into the tower.

His men however, judging by the cries and sudden silences, were not faring well. Shifting his weapon over to his left hand, he snapped his right hand out and summoned his wand into his palm before he swiped it vertically across his body while shouting, " _Ventus_!"

The dust immediately dispersed as his spell cleared the air. And when the dust finally settled, his grip on his wand tightened to the point of almost painful. He'd been given a team of six snipers when he's been assigned this position. Higgins was gone, his body more than likely a smear on the courtyard below. And the other five members of his squad where all laid out in varying positions within the now clear tower.

" _Diffindo_!"

Only years of training saved Shepard as his body immediately went into a forward roll, the cutting curse that'd been meant for his neck just barely missing his head as it passed him by. Coming out of his roll, he turned and slashed his wand across his body. " _Uitta circumdatos_!" A red ribbon leapt forth out of his wand, stretching half the radius of the tower and cutting through everything; stone and wood included, as it followed the path of his wand.

" _Avada kedavra_!"

Again, John was forced to let go of his spell as he rolled once again to dodge the green curse. " _Muro lapis_!"

A stone laden wall appeared, separating Jon from the direction the killing curse originated from. The moment the wall was tall enough to conceal himself, he apparated to the far corner of the astronomy tower away from his conjured wall and where his assailant was.

"Not bad." The voice immediately put John even further on edge. _'Shit. He's using sonorus spell to cover his tracks. Clever son of a bitch.'_ "Your reflexes are superb, and your power is nothing to scoff at either, judging by the ribbon cutting curse you used to destroy half of this tower. You must be one of the legendary Shepard twins. Jon, if I'm not mistaken. How is your sister Jane doing? I take it she's in a different part of the castle then no? I would be stupid to put two such powerful individuals like yourselves so close together in a battle like this."

Casting more than one anti-detection charm on himself, he disillusioned himself before silently apparating once more clear across the tower. "And you must be Blackwood," John replied after casting a weak sonorus charm on himself. "The Emperor's little bitch boy. Tell me…you didn't shoot the messenger did you? You know the one I'm talking about right? The lackey you sent after my sister and myself with the offer to join you."

"Why? I didn't take you for the sentimental type. Especially with the reply you sent back with my littler errand boy."

"Nah, not sentimental in the least. At least, not when it comes to you dark magic worshiping cocksuckers." John replied, casting several detection charms in rapid succession but failing to find any trace of the Darth.

"How colorful."

Apparating again, John found himself atop the astronomy towers roof, staring down through the hole that Blackwood had created when he arrived. "I try my best."

"And in the end it won't be enough. You will regret the day you and your sister rejected my offer. Perhaps, I'll make her my little slave after this is all said and done. Don't worry, I'll treat her well. Well…well enough of course. But I can't guarantee the same will be said for my underlings that I give her to as a reward."

It took every fiber of his being to stay still. "Trying to goad me won't work Blackwood. And plus…if you really think you either force or coerce my sister into that kind of life…then you're and even bigger idiot than I thought. And that is saying something."

"Then I will enjoy the challenge of breaking her in…in more ways than one. But I tire of this game of cat and mouse. Why don't you cease being a fool and come out and face me."

"Who you calling a fool Blackwood?" John shot back. "You're hiding your sorry ass somewhere up here just like I am." A moment of silence stretched on between them, making John sigh. "You're not going to force me to spell that one out for you, are you Blackwood? I thought your wee brain had at least a mediocre amount of processing power behind it. Or maybe you did get to your rank by kissing your Emperors ass."

Then, to John's complete and utter surprise, Blackwood apparated right into plain view in the middle of the ruined astronomy tower. "Here I am, John Shepard." Blackwood called out, his arms raised slightly too either side. "Come out from the shadows and face me like a man."

Deciding that honor could take a back seat for a moment, John snapped off a cutting curse at the back of the man's exposed neck. The red streak hit its target. And then did absolutely nothing as it stuck a small shield that John hadn't even noticed was there.

"Well, that tickled." Blackwood commented as he rolled his neck in a circle while turning to face where John was standing. "I must say, I'm impressed. I thought you would be too brainwashed by those Jedi to actually attempt something like shooting me in the back. But still, I'm stupid. No doubt you know that most of my skin is covered in a metal alloy, which red-skinned Jedi would've told you as such. And while my neck does have the alloy, my spine does not as I like moving my head. So, I took a precaution and placed a small shield charm right on top of my spine. Oh, and you may as well drop the act Shepard. I know that you're hiding behind the second pillar to the right on the upper level."

Cursing silently, John deactivated the spells that were keeping him hidden and emerged from behind the pillar. "So, what now?" John asked as he dropped down from the upper level so that he and Blackwood were on even footing. "We just gonna start casting spells back and forth at one another until one of us gets in a lucky shot and kills the other?"

Blackwood merely shrugged. "Do you have a better idea Shepard?"

"Just this."

In the blink of an eye, John had his sidearm out and leveled right at Blackwood. A single gunshot reverberated throughout the tower as Blackwood's head snapped back. Not wanting to take any chances, John kept firing until he unloaded the entire clip into Blackwood's chest, each shot forcing the man to take a step backwards towards the edge of the balcony. When his clip ran dry, Jon fluidly dropped the clip out of the pistol and reloaded it within a split second. But before he could fire a single shot, he was forced to roll away as a green streak of light shot at him from Blackwood's wand.

"Not bad Shepard." Blackwood commented, as he rolled his head around lazily. "But in case you've forgotten, I've had reinforced metal plates surgically and magically grafted onto and under my skin. Including my skull."

John felt a sense of dread settle in as Blackwood's head righted itself. His first shot was still embedded into the man's forehead on the surface. Reaching up with a deliberate slowness, the Sith plucked the bullet from his forehead and tossed it aside. "Oh shit." John cursed as he kept his gun and wand trained on Blackwood.

"Well then Shepard." Blackwood grinned, drawing a second wand into his off hand. "Let's have some fun!"

* * *

"It should be right about…here!" Ron yelled out as he followed his wand to a pile of junk that was stacked nearly to the ceiling within the Room of Requirement.

"Shite." Hannah cursed staring at the pile. "I think I should've stayed with the others than to walk into…this. This is going to take us longer than the last one! And we're running out of time fast!"

Ron shrugged, "At least you managed to regroup with us in time to find the last one, what kept you anyway?"

Hannah scowled, "Apparently the Child was playing 'hostage' and while I was escorting Lieutenant Jane to Great Hall we walked into that."

"Then let's make this quick." Tracey said, pointing her wand at the stack. "Bombarda!"

Ron and Hannah both let out cries as they stumbled backwards, trying to avoid backlash of debris caused by Tracey's spell. Ignoring them both, Tracey reapplied the point-me charm, which led her to a much smaller pile that'd landed just off to her right. Within less than a minute, she was holding up a small gold galleon in her right hand. "Holy shite…" She muttered looking at the coin.

"What?" Ron asked, stepping up to her side. "Is that the Horcrux?"

"No." Tracey said, shaking her head as she grabbed the coin and began to examine it closely. "This…this is one of the first coins ever minted by the goblins. See the date here? This…this thing is worth a fortune to the goblins!"

"But it's not the Horcrux." Hannah said, drawing Tracey out of her musing. "So either pocket it or drop it. We still need to find what we came here for in the first place."

Deciding her friend had the right idea, Tracey quickly pocketed the coin and turned around to see her boyfriend looking at her with mild confusion. "What?" She asked, brushing past him. "This coin is extremely valuable to the right people. And besides, it's been in here for only Merlin knows how long. I doubt the original owner is going to raise much of a fuss over my taking it."

"Argue later." Hannah snapped, holding up her wand and recasting the point-me charm. "The first two 'treasures' were a bust. Let's hope the third one is the charm."

Falling in step behind Hannah, Tracey pointedly ignored the look her boyfriend was sending her way. "Later Ron." She growled, knowing that this would more than likely lead to one of their little 'talks' again.

"I didn't say anything." Ron replied sourly. "It's just…"

"Holy mother of Merlin."

Tracey had been so engrossed with Ron that she'd failed to notice that Hannah had stopped in front of her until she nearly ran into her back. "Shite Hannah," Tracey breathed, stepping around her friend who seemed frozen in place. "What is…it…holy shite."

Standing proud before them was a blank faced mannequin wearing a stunning ball gown. But it wasn't the gown that took her breath away. It was the shining, diamond encrusted raven diadem that was sitting atop the mannequin's head whose center was dominated with a large sapphire jewel with the emblem of House Ravenclaw carefully engraved into its surface. "Is…" Hannah breathed, her hand half raised as if to reach out for the diadem. "Is that…"

"Yes." Tracey nodded, swallowing heavily. "That's Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem."

Not even Ron was immune to the sight. Tracey's boyfriend, or boy-toy as Daphne liked to call him, was staring at the diadem with completely awe and no small amount of want. As embarrassing as the sight was, Tracey was self-aware enough to admit that she was in a similar state. _'Her diadem is said to increase the intelligence of the wearer.'_ Tracey thought as she took a half step towards the object. _'If I could put it on, even for a few minutes…we could defeat the Sith easily! Then…then I could show that I'm worthy of being a Knight! Maybe even a Master! No…no with the diadem I could easily replace Master Nox as the Grand Master of the Guardians! That would show everyone that she was worthy!'_

It was that thought that brought Tracey up short. That…desire…while it was her own she had certainly never voiced it before. Palming her wand, she sent a silent stinging hex at her own leg before following it up with two more hexes aimed at Hannah's back and Ron's backside.

"Ouch!" Hannah gasped. "Why did you do that?"

"And why did you aim so low with me!?" Ron demanded as one hand furiously rubbed at the spot that she hit.

"Cause the closer I aim to your bits, the sooner I get your attention." Tracey answered as she kept her eyes off of the diadem. "Now stop staring at the diadem. It has a powerful dark compulsion charm on it. More than likely ol' snake-face's doing."

If Tracey had needed any more confirmation of her hatred for the Dark Lord, she'd found it. 'How dare he.' She thought spitefully, trying hard not to look directly at the diadem. _'He took a priceless artifact, a piece of magical history and corrupted it with dark magic! All for his own gain! That…that fucking arsehole!'_

Pulling out the black pouch Master Nox had given them, Tracey kept her eyes off the diadem as she reached out with the Force and carefully removed the priceless artifact off its stand. _'Bloody fucking hell.'_ She cursed as she felt the curse trying to force its way to her through the ether of the Force _. 'There's no doubt in my mind now…Voldemort turned Rowena's Diadem into a horcrux. Thank Merlin Master Nox sent these bags with us. Hopefully the charms on them will keep the compulsions in check…otherwise we're going to have to stash this thing somewhere until Master Nox arrives.'_

The moment she pulled the string tight and closed the bag, she immediately felt a sense of relief as the compulsion immediately dissipated to the point of being non-existent. "Come on." She said, letting out a breath of relief as she turned towards Ron and Hannah. "Let's get this to Master Nox." 'And hope that she knows a way to remove a horcrux without destroying it's housing.' She added silently as the trio turned and made their way towards the exit of the room.

* * *

Rolling forward to duck under a spell, Harry brought his wand to bear as he regained his feet and let a blasting curse go at point blank range right into the chest of Death Eater. Not bothering to see the results of his spell, Harry spun and threw his lightsaber as hard as he could. The black-purple blade spun through the air, cutting through the chest of two more of the Sith forces before it arched back around and into his open hand.

Tracking another streak of black smoke, Harry ran forward as he tried to get to the general area where the mist was heading. As soon as the mist landed, Harry's lightsaber was already in motion, and the Death Eater that'd materialized from the mist could do nothing more than gawk as at his sudden turn of fortune before his life was ended. Not bothering to give the dead man a second glance, Harry turned his back on him and made his way back towards the edge of the ramparts that overlooked the courtyard below.

The yard was a mess as men and women dressed in black cloaks and silver masks ran around the courtyard firing curse, jinxes and on the rare occasion, using a blaster to fight against the defenders. On the opposite ramparts, Ahsoka and Ginny were jumping and spinning around, their lightsabers and wands a constant blur of motion as they took down Death Eater after Death Eater without hesitation.

On the ground level, Professors McGonagall and Flitwick were fighting at a level that was, to be frank, surprising given their age and size. McGonagall, while mostly staying stationary for the most part, was proving herself to be a transfiguration and conjuration master as she created dozens of objects, both sentiment and inanimate, to fight against the Sith. And Flitwick, the diminutive professor was moving and fighting with an agility that reminded Harry greatly of Grand Master Yoda. The two squads of soldiers that'd been stationed in the yard with them were set up at opposites sides, one with McGonagall and Flitwick and the other stationed at the gun emplacement over the main gate.

While they were holding well, Harry didn't know just how much longer they'd be able to continue to do so. The Sith forces were pouring in like rain. For every one that was killed, two more took their place. The only reason that they hadn't been overrun yet was because of McGonagall's stone soldiers that were fighting alongside the Hogwarts defenders.

Feeling a new presence behind him, Harry pivoted and readied his lightsaber as a Death Eater materialized right in front of him. But before his strike could land, the Death Eater staggered as the side of his head exploded and the man cartwheeled over dead as a doornail. "Jesus kid…I almost feel sorry for these poor fuckers for going up against you."

"You're one to talk Major." Harry said, nodding past the Major towards the line of dead that the man had left in his wake. "I think you've downed more than me so far."

Dropping the empty clip out of his weapon, the Major quickly reloaded. "Age and experience kid. Someday you'll get there." Slapping the new clip in place. "But now's not the time to-"

Both Harry and the Major ducked instinctively as an explosion rocked the grounds of Hogwarts. Snapping his eyes upwards, Harry felt his heart sink as he saw that the top half of the astronomy tower was gone. "Shit." Ryder cursed, as he activated his radio. "Ryder to Shepard, come in Shepard…damn it. Nothing."

Reaching out with his senses, Harry could sense two presences in the tower. One was Shepard. And judging by just how revolting the second presence was, Harry had a good idea about who had entered the fray. "The Emperor has sent in Blackwood." Harry cursed. They hadn't expected the Emperor to send in his best. Not yet at least. "We need to get someone-" A second explosion, this time from the ground level, staggered both Harry and the Major again as the gun emplacement over the main gate went up in flames.

"Fuck." Harry cursed loudly, grabbing the Major by the arm and apparating the short distance to the emplacement.

The area was a mess. There was nothing left of the two gun emplacements save for a smoking black crater in the walkway and only two of the original squad members were still alive, although both were heavily injured. "Shit." Ryder cursed, going over to the nearest soldier who was still semi-conscious. "Private, what happened?"

"Spike-head…bastards." The private coughed, spitting up a wad of blood in the process. "They…teleported in…ran at us. Tried to fight them off…they…nothing seemed to hurt them. When they got close they…they detonated."

 _'Fuck…they're using the Condemned as suicide bombers now. Just fucking wonderful_.' Harry cursed as he stood on the edge of the wall, so he was looking down at the bridge leading up to the main gates. With the support of the turrets or the tower, the giants were cutting through the stone soldiers like tissue paper as they made their way closer and closer to the castle.

Raising his wand, Harry closed his eyes for a moment to center himself before opening them once more. " _Fiendfyre_!"

The cursed fire shot out of his wand like a bullet from a gun as it quickly formed into the image of a snake. The snake sunk down to the bridge and started to weave through the lines of stone soldiers before coiling around the nearest giant. The giant screamed in agony as it tried to brush the flames off of it, but all of its efforts were in vain as the dark fire quickly overcame the giant's magical resistance and reduced it to ash. While the snake was still consuming its first prey, a second creature, this one a hawk, shot out from his wand and soared overhead before dive-bombing down onto the second giant.

The hawk was quickly followed by stag, then a wolf and then an owl. Each of whom avoided the stone soldiers as they made their way down the bridge in favor of the giants. "That should by us some time." Harry said, cutting off the spell after letting loose a dozen fire-made animals.

Moving back, he saw that the Major had managed to move both survivors up into a sitting position and was currently applying whatever first aid treatment he could to both wounded men. "How much time did you buy us?" Ryder asked without looking up from the soldier he was aiding.

"A few minutes at most." Harry answered before turning back around and firing off a cutting curse, which went right through the chest of a Death Eater that'd apparated next to him. "But only against the giants. We still have these Sith flunkies to deal with."

Tying off the bandage on the soldier, Ryder rose to his feet. "How much longer until our reinforcements arrive, Knight?"

Cocking his head, Harry reached out with the Force trying to find his mother. "Not long." He answered. "We just need to hold out a little while longer."

Ryder winced. "I don't know if we have a little while long Knight. This position is completely overrun. We need to fall back to within the castle if we're going to hope to survive until our reinforcements arrive."

"We can't give up the courtyard." Harry said. "We have to hold as best we can until-"

 _ **"Knight Greengrass to Major Ryder or Knight Potter. Come in now."**_

* * *

Deflecting a killing curse away with her saberstaff, Daphne reached out, her fingers curled in as she grabbed the would-be caster with the Force before pulling him in towards her. The man wasn't even able to bring his wand around to bear before he passed her by and her saberstaff bisected the man. Feeling an ever so slight warning from the Force, Daphne raised her wand just in time to create a barrier around herself and Luna as the windows next to them shattered inwards, showering the hall with glass.

Her apprentice didn't miss a beat either. The moment the windows shattered she ducked behind Daphne until the worse of the shrapnel was past them, and then she was leaping over Daphne's head and bringing her lightsaber down upon the Death Eater's head who'd broken the windows.

"We should move Master." Luna commented, turning her head away from the man she'd just killed. "They're learning to avoid us and are now heading towards the students we left behind to hold this wing."

As if to prove her Apprentice's words, a loud explosion came from down the hall, followed by the cries of pain and screams of curses being thrown about. Daphne took a single step to retreat down the hall when she caught something out of the corner of her eye. Turning back towards the broken windows, Daphne gazed at the darkened grounds that lay beyond between Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest. The ground was…moving.

 _'No_.' Daphne thought, staring hard and reaching out with her power only to sense an unbridled hunger and yearning to tear flesh asunder. 'The ground isn't moving. Something is moving across the grounds!'

"Oh dear." Luna sighed stepping up beside her completely calm despite the ongoing war around them and the enemy that was approaching. "I do believe that we forgot about the acromantulas during our briefings. The Sith must've flushed them out of the forest and herded them towards the castle grounds. I wonder how many died for that to happen?"

"Not nearly enough." Daphne responded, lifting her hand up to her ear and activating the com-link that was wrapped around her ear. "Knight Daphne to Major Ryder or Knight Potter. Come in now."

 _ **"Ryder."**_

"Major, I'm afraid that we have a situation on our hands." Daphne said as she fired off a cutting spell down the hall without looking. The Sith that'd been disillusioned gasped as he became visible, his hands clutching desperately at the gaping hole in his chest before he fell face down onto the ground dead. "The Sith must've flushed out the acromantula colony that was in the forest. And they're all heading for the castle as we speak."

 _ **"What the fuck are acromantulas?"**_

 _ **"Spiders that can get to the size of LAATs Major."**_ Harry's voice cut in over the comm _ **. "I see them Daphne. Fuck…how in the name of Force did we forget about them?"**_

 _ **"Worry about that later!"**_ Ryder shouted back. _**"I see them. Shit…that's a lot of spiders. And our reinforcements are still not here. I need options people now."**_

 _ **"Hermione."**_ Harry's voice cut across the channel _ **. "You're our walking encyclopedia. What are our options?"**_

 _ **"Acromantulas are far larger than any known species of spider and are considered a class five beast by the Ministry."**_ Hermione said, her voice more than slightly strained over the comm. _ **"They thrive in the dark dense jungles, and therefore have developed a slight aversion to bright light. A lumos maxima at close range will drive them back for a time. But their size is also their disadvantage as they have trouble in tight corridors. They're also not known to be loyal to dark wizards and are more than likely just as dangerous to the Sith forces as they are to our own."**_

 _ **"Then that's our plan then."**_ Major Ryder acknowledged once Hermione was done. _ **"Everyone, fall to secondary positions within the school. We'll let the Sith and the spiders kill each other and hold a defensive position within the castle until our reinforcements arrive."**_

 _ **"Wait."**_ Harry said, stopping Daphne in her tracks. He sounded almost…relieved. And then Daphne felt it and she couldn't help the feeling of elation that passed through her. _'Finally_.'

* * *

"Then that's our plan then." Major Ryder said next to him, his eyes trained on the fast approaching spiders. "Everyone, fall back to secondary positions within the school. We'll let the Sith and the spiders kill each other and hold a defensive position within the castle until our reinforcements arrive."

The Major hadn't even completed his command to pull back, and Harry was already doubting the plan. _'The Sith wouldn't unleash something like the acromantulas without having a contingency plan. Pulling back won't work…that's what the Emperor wants us to do.'_ Looking around, Harry felt his stomach plummet as he realized that no new Sith were approaching the castle. Even the giants had momentarily halted their advance.

The air cracked next to them as both Ginny and Ahsoka apparated into existence next to the two of them. "Harry," Ginny said, staring off into distance with a look of utter horror on her face. "Why the hell is the entire colony of acromantulas coming out of the forest?"

"Cause the Sith flushed them out and herded them towards the castle." Harry answered swiftly before turning back to the Major. "We can't abandon this position Major. This is the only truly accessible landing zone within the school."

Giving Harry a hard look, the Major glanced back at the field. "With respect Knight Potter…we can't hold this position with those…things closing in on us."

"We won't have to." Harry answered, his eyes going skywards. The moment Harry looked up the field between Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest came alight as a wall of fire erupted in the middle of the horde, burning hundreds of acromantulas at once and scattering the rest. "Our reinforcements have finally arrived."

The Major's eyes went skyward as a dozen fighters passed overhead at breakneck speeds, each engaging one of the dozens of fighters that made up the Sith air force. "Holy shit." Ryder breathed as a ship, far larger than any that'd been previous unveiled before, broke through the clouds. "I knew Grand Master Nox said she had a ship but…I never expected to see something like that."

"The first completely Earth made space Cruiser class vessel. The Satale Shan." Harry stated as the two watched as the dozens of batteries that lined the hull of the Shan continued their bombardment of the acromantula covered field.

Turing his back on the field, Harry glanced quickly at the courtyard. They were nearly completely overrun as the Sith continued to appear in different locations throughout the yard, the only reason they hadn't been was because the defenders within the school were providing just enough firepower from their positions to keep the Sith pinned down.

"We need to clear an LZ for the LAATs." Harry stated as he held his lightsaber diagonally across his back to turn a killing curse back to the Death Eater that'd just tried to curse him in the back. "We'll fall back to the main entrance and provide covering fire for the dropships as they arrive."

"Yes sir," Ryder nodded as he moved over to help the two soldiers up to their feet.

Just as Harry, Ginny and Ahsoka were about to apparate the three men to the entrance, Ahsoka stopped dead. Her eyes went impossibly wide as she turned towards the castle. "Nat."

Pausing, Harry turned to Ahsoka. "What is it?"

Swallowing, Ahsoka turned towards him, her eyes wide and full of fear. "Something…I can sense that Nat is in danger."

 _'Shite.'_ Harry cursed as he turned and deflected another curse away before returning the favor with a cutting curse. _'Nat is with Gabby, Astoria and the younger years. If she's in trouble…'_

"You two head into the castle." Harry said, making both Ginny and Ahsoka blink. "If Nat is truly in trouble, then so too are the younger years. They'll need your help."

"What about you Master?" Ginny asked as she let loose two powerful blasting curses in quick succession. "We can't just leave this position and you alone."

"I'll be fine." He said with a quick glance skyward. "Our reinforcements are almost here. Ryder, the men we have left and myself will be able to hold this position until they arrive. Nat and the others need you two more than I do now. So go."

Casting a quick glance skyward, Ahsoka cursed. "Damn it." Stepping up to him, she pressed her lips quickly against his own before backing off. "Stay safe Harry. Ginny, let's go."

* * *

Standing on the bridge of the Satale Shan staring out of the forward viewport, Admiral Hackett watched on silently as his newly acquired battle cruiser rained fire down on the grounds between the ancient castle and the forest. "Admiral."

Turning his head, he found his temporary XO, Captain Anderson, standing behind him with a datapad in hand. "Report Captain."

Nodding, Anderson's eyes flickered down to the datapad. "It's not good sir. Initial scans indicate that the Sith forces are slightly larger than anticipated. The tower where Lieutenant Shepard was supposed to be station is destroyed, however we have picked up energy fluctuations coming from within the ruins. The gun emplacement is gone. And the Sith have almost completely overrun the main courtyard."

Nodding, Hackett turned back to the battlefield below. "And these…creatures that came from the forest?"

"Scattered." Anderson reported. "Most have fled back into the forest; however, some have managed to get to reach the castle walls despite our best efforts."

Folding his hands behind his back, Hackett watched as one of the enemy fighters was taken down by one of theirs. "Launch all LAATs and inform Grand Master Nox of these developments."

"Yes sir!"

* * *

Staring out the portside view of the LAAT she was in, Nox stared down at the destruction the Shan was raining down on the acromantulas that'd been trying to reach the castle. Part of her was kicking herself for not thinking of the spider colony in the forest, but in her defense, only an idiot would lure acromantulas out onto a battlefield. _'Although I should have had a contingency in place for them.'_ She thought. _'Vitiate never cared about the losses he sustained. As long as the battle went in his favor.'_

"Pilot." She called out as she surveyed the castle and the surrounding grounds, her mind racing as she tried to adjust their battle plans based on the information provided to her by Hackett. "Direct LAAT three to what's left of the astronomy tower. LAATs one, two and five will head down to the courtyard will LAAT four will head for the rear bridge of the castle. All other LAATs will unload on the castle walls before taking up a holding pattern around the castle to provide additional air support."

"Yes ma'am!" The pilot acknowledged before he began relaying his commands to the other LAATs.

"Tonks."

"Yes ma'am?" Tonks asked, moving up alongside her.

Staring down, Nox's mind raced as she tried to predict the Emperor's next move. "After we land I want you to take a few of our men and find Ron, Tracey and Hannah."

Tonks gave a slight start. "W-what?"

"I have a feeling I know what Vitiate's next move will be." Nox answered, not taking her eyes off the rapidly approaching castle. "And if I'm right, I need to be there to prevent it from happening. I can't be running around the castle trying to find those three to see if they've located the last Horcrux or not. After you've found them and the Horcrux, bring them to me. I'm sure you won't have any trouble finding me."

"I– yes ma'am." Tonks nodded. "I won't fail you."

As they descended past the first tower of Hogwarts, Nox felt a not so small thrill swell within her. _'And so it begins Vitiate…the beginning of the end of your reign.'_

* * *

Staring down at the destruction before him, it was taking everything in Vitiate's considerable power to keep himself calm. The presence of this…cruiser was an unexpected variable he hadn't even considered possible. His Voice wasn't helping any either. Voldemort was alternating quickly between anger, surprise and most prevalent of all, fear. Such confliction wasn't helping Vitiate maintain his control as he tried to quickly add this new variable into his plans.

"My…my Emperor…should we pull our forces back an-"

With a wave of his hand, Vitiate sent a blast of Force energy at the offending fool, obliterating him into nothingness. " **Azcarin**."

"Yes, my Emperor?"

Keeping his eyes on the vessel in the sky, Vitiate finalized his plans. " **Retrieve my wand and the diadem. Kill any who stand in your way."**

He could practically hear the smirk coming from his Wrath. "As you command, my Emperor." And then, with the slightest cracks, his Wrath was gone from his side.

 _'Well done Nox._ ' He thought, staring up at the ship as a slight grin started to form on his face. ' _This may have given you a slight edge…for the moment. But in the end it will not matter. You will still lose. And thanks to you, my New Sith Order will be ready to take to the stars far sooner than I'd originally hoped.'_

* * *

Feeling the ship rock, Obi-Wan tightened his grip on the overhead rungs as the LAAT descended into the Hogwarts courtyard. Dozens of blacked cloaked individuals were running around the courtyard, using what cover they could to advance towards the entrance of the school despite the heavy onslaught of spells and blaster fire that was keeping them at bay. The gun emplacement that was supposed to be above the bridge was nothing more than a blackened crater, which had allowed the giants to reach them main gates which they were now working on smashing in. And standing alone just before the entrance leading into the interior of the school was Knight Potter, his lightsaber moving in a blur as he turned away every shot was being taken at him. The only upside that Obi-Wan could see was that the Sith were so focused in on Harry and the defenders within the school that they'd yet to notice the incoming drop ships.

"Stay close to me." He said lowly to Narcissa, who was standing so close to him that the two were practically touching. "This is a hot LZ we're coming into," he continued on, louder so the rest of the soldiers in the LAAT could hear him, "we will not be touching down. As soon as your boots are on the ground spread out and lay down covering fire for the next shuttle behind us."

"Yes sir!" The soldiers all shouted.

"Just like old times eh General?" Gregor said with a slight hitch in his voice. "This almost reminds me of the report I read on your entry into the second battle for Geonosis."

"Yes well," Obi-Wan coughed, as he was inadvertently brought back to that battle when his shuttle was shot down well away from the predetermined landing area. "Let's just hope that this battle goes slightly better than that one."

While they were still five meters from the ground, the side panels on the LAAT opened and Obi-Wan, followed quickly by Gregor, Narcissa and the rest of his troops jumped out of the LAAT and made the short drop down to the ground. The instant his boots hit the ground, Obi-Wan's lightsaber sprang to life as he jumped into the fray.

The first of the Sith forces he encountered was an older man who snarled and tried to cast some sort of dark red spell at him, but Obi-Wan calmly deflected the spell away and into another Sith before closing the distance between the two of them and ending the man before he could get off a second shot.

Before the man's body could even hit the ground, Obi-Wan felt a pull from the force and leaned back as a sickly-green spell passed through the air right in front of him. Turning to face the caster, he found himself facing off against a young man that couldn't have been much older than Anakin. "Died Guardian scum!" The man shouted, raising his wand as he prepared to cast a second spell. " _Avada ke-ahhhh!"_

A bolt of white light impacted the man before he could finish his incantation and sent him clear across the courtyard and headfirst into one of the still standing stone columns in the yard. "I thought that you were supposed to be protecting me Obi, not the other way around."

 _'Well, I guess that there is no denying it now.'_ Obi-wan thought as he deflected another spell away as Narcissa sent one of her own back at the caster. ' _Narcissa is definitely channeling Satine's spirit through the Force.'_

Behind the two of them, Gregor had set his men up to form a half-circle with their backs to the entrance of the school, so they could provide covering fire for the next LAAT, which was just now hovering over their group. As the side doors opened Master Secura jumped out, her blue lightsaber already activated in her right hand and her wand held tightly in her left.

"Master Kenobi," Secura said as she landed gracefully next to him while simultaneous blocking a spell and firing off a spell of her own.

"Master Secura." Obi-Wan nodded as he stood side by side with the rutian twi'lek so the two could work in tandem to provide their troopers with time to set up a defensive perimeter.

A black-purple blur flew over both Master's heads just as Obi-Wan heard the third dropship start to hover overhead. The black-purple blade arched through the air, cutting down four of the Sith before arching around and boomeranging back towards the Masters. The air cracked next to Obi-Wan as Harry snapped into existence next to him, his hand raised and ready as his lightsaber came back around and into the palm of his hand. "Glad you could make it to the party Masters."

"We have a very different definition of 'party', Knight Potter." Aayla responded not unkindly as the three of them stood shoulder to shoulder against the onslaught of Sith.

Blocking another spell, Obi-Wan cast a quick glance around the yard. "Where's Ahsoka?" Knocking another spell away, Harry reached out with the Force and lifted a witch off her feet, letting her hover in the air for a second before throwing her clear over the wall of Hogwarts.

"She sensed that Nat was in danger." Harry answered, his attention still on the battle around him. "I had her and Ginny pull back into the castle to make sure that Nat, Astoria, Gabrielle and the younger years were okay."

Frowning, Obi-Wan kept his focus on the incoming spells. _'Running after her Apprentice as soon as she sensed she was in danger. Ahsoka picked up more than a few bad habits from Anakin, I see. But if those three were guarding the younglings within the school, I cannot say that it was an incorrect decision for her to go.'_

The sound of wood and stone shattering brought Obi-Wan's attention to the far end of the courtyard. "Well…it seems like this battle just got a lot more interesting." Harry sighed as the three of them watched as the first of the many giants that'd been outside ducked its way through the now ruined main gate.

 _'Interesting_.' Obi-Wan thought, staring up at the beast that was easily two-to-three times taller than himself. ' _That is an interesting word for this situation.'_

* * *

Standing next to the one of the blown-out walls in the astronomy tower of Hogwarts, Darth Blackwood watched as the flying ship blasted the ground with firepower equal to any blasting curse he could've produced. _'Hmm…I always knew that there was something to be said for muggle science. But if they can create this type of destructive force without the aid magic…I can only dream of what we'll be able to create once we acquire that knowledge for ourselves.'_

"Hey…asshole…we're not fini- finished yet."

Casting a look over his shoulder, he sighed, as he saw a heavily wounded Shepard trying to regain his footing. Part of him respected the wizard. He was powerful, there was no doubt about that. Blackwood would even admit that Shepard was nearly on par with himself. Nearly. But not quite. Which was why Shepard was near death and Blackwood didn't even have a scratch on him.

"You should know when you're beaten, Shepard." Blackwood sighed, turning his back on the battle going on below them.

Slowly getting to his feet, Shepard had one hand pressed against his side trying to stem the tide of bleeding from the wound on his midsection while holding his wand weakly in his other hand. "Suck a cock."

"Not really my thing Shepard." Blackwood shrugged while lazily casting a cutting curse at the man's legs.

Showing a surprising amount of agility, considering how injured he was, Shepard managed to dodge the spell by rolling to his left before righting himself and firing back a spell of his own. Unfortunately, Shepard was so weak by this point that Blackwood could simply deflect the spell away with barely a flick from one of his wands. "Give it up Shepard." Blackwood sighed. "In the condition you're in…you couldn't even fight your way out of a wet paper bag."

"Fuck…you." Shepard managed to get out as he cast another cutting curse, this one Blackwood didn't need to deflect as the spell flew uselessly over his shoulder and into the night sky.

With only a half-flick from his wand, Blackwood sent the soldier flying across the room and into a pile of debris in the corner, his wand falling uselessly out of his hand in the process. Taking a few steps forward, Blackwood looked down at Shepard's wand laying on the ground. It was long, probably a good foot in length and was pitch black in color. Picking the wand up, he touched it with his own.

"Hmm, interesting." Blackwood muttered as he magically examined the wand. Even though he'd defeated its owner, the wand refused to acknowledge him like so many others had in the past. "You truly are something John. Your magic is certainly nothing to scoff at. And if it hadn't been for the training the Emperor had personally given me, not to mention my skin, you probably would've wiped the floor with me. But despite my respect for you and your abilities Shepard, it's time to end this."

Two more steps forward and Blackwood was standing over a heavily bleeding and barely conscious Shepard. Wielding Shepard's wand, Blackwood pointed it at the soldier. "Your wand is fighting me quite severely right now Shepard. So I apologize if this isn't as a clean a kill as I would prefer. _Avada Kedav-ahh_!"

The invisible force that struck him square in the face felt like a brick and he was to roll backwards ass over elbow twice until he managed to right himself. When he did, he glared up at Shepard, only to have his path blocked. Blocked by the same red-skinned, horned alien woman he fought back on the island of Azkaban. And just like before, standing beside her was the pale skinned alien with red horns protruding from her forehead.

"Well, well." Blackwood grinned, rising to his feet. Things had suddenly become much more interesting. And fun. "I take it that you two are the 'cavalry', come to bail that poor sack of shit out of the hole he dug himself into? I thought that you two would know to avoid me after our little squabble back at Azkaban."

The pale faced one looked more than slightly annoyed at the reminder of their last match, but the red-skinned woman just stood there completely composed. "Maris, take the Lieutenant and fall back to the med point."

The pale-skinned one, Maris, looked at the red woman in surprise. A surprise that mimicked Blackwoods although he managed to keep any from showing. "Master Ti." Maris said, keeping one eye on him and one eye on her master. "I– I can't let you fight him alone."

"I will be fine Maris." Shaak Ti stated simply, which only served to infuriate Blackwood. Did she already forget about the clinic he put on for the two of them? "Take the Lieutenant and go. I will not be long."

The young woman looked like she wanted to argue further, but after a moment of silence she simply nodded her head and retreated to pick up the injured Shepard. "I must say," Blackwood marveled as he watched the young woman effortlessly hoisted the older and heavier Shepard up onto her shoulder before making her way out of the tower. "I am surprised that you would be willing to face me by yourself."

Shaak Ti's face didn't change as she just continued to stare at him blankly in a manner that was almost unnerving. "I will admit, Darth Blackwood, that our first encounter surprised me. I've met cyborgs before, but none have gone to the level you have with your augmentations. But now that I have had time to meditate on it, you will not be able to surprise like that again."

Blackwood merely smiled. "Brave words. I look forward to breaking you this time. So, how shall we fight? Magic to magic? Hand to hand? Or will you be using your lightsaber again? Either way…you'll lose."

"Your overconfidence will be your undoing, Darth Blackwood." Shaak Ti stated as she shifted her left foot back slightly, yet still remand unarmed, oddly enough.

"My overconfidence?" Blackwood scoffed. "You're the one standing before a clearly superior opponent unarmed. Perhaps it is your overconfidence that will be your undoing."

"A superior opponent?" Shaak Ti asked, tilting her head slightly before shaking it. "Before coming to this planet Darth Blackwood, I was a seated member of the Jedi High Council. And now I hold a seat on the Guardian High council. Both positions I earned not solely based on skills as a mediator, I can assure you. And one like yourself, whose based solely in the darkness, will never be my equal let alone my better."

Blackwood felt himself grinning. _'Oh yes…this is going to be fun!'_ "The Jedi and the 'Guardian' High council…I'm almost impressed Shaak. So what? You expect me to fall on my knees? Repent and beg for your forgiveness for my wicked deeds? And then spend the rest of my life in a six by six stone cell with only a bucket to shit in and a small window for light?"

"No." The Jedi said, surprising Blackwood.

"No?" Blackwood asked, using one of his wands to scratch at his temple. "Which part are you saying no to?"

"All of it." Shaak Ti stated plainly. "Recent events have…changed my perspective. I used to believe that everyone should have a chance at redemption, that no one was too far gone. But now…now I realize just how naive I was. Those like yourself who've delved so deeply into the darkness do not deserve a chance for redemption. So no, I will not be taking you prisoner today. I will be ending your life, Darth Blackwood. And removing your stain of existence from the galaxy."

It was all Blackwood could do not to gape at the woman. _'This…this is completely contradictory to everything the Emperor told us about the Jedi. Everything he showed me about the Jedi! Did Nox…did Nox really change them so much?'_ "Haha…I must say Jedi…I'm pressed. But I do have to ask, did it hurt?"

The woman's head tilted back to the other side. "Did what hurt?"

"The removal of that iron rod from your ass Shaak. I thought your Jedi training imbedded those things so firmly that they could never be removed."

Shaak Ti stared at him blankly for moment before doing something he never expected. She grinned. And it wasn't just any grin, it was a sultry grin that could get the heart of any man racing, even his own. A look that was further compounded as she lightly traced her parted lips with a finger. "Oh no…it felt so good Blackwood. Incredibly…good. After all, that is why I shoved it up there in the first place."

He honestly didn't know what to say. Her quick shift left him dumbfounded. And as soon as that realization came, so to came the realization that he'd fallen into her trap. Within a blink of an eye she'd managed to cross the distance between them and her right fist was coming straight for his face.

It was only because of his years of training in preparation for the return of the Emperor that he could catch the woman's arm before she struck his face. "Hand to hand combat than?" He asked, grinning from ear to ear. But his grin faded slightly as he tried to move her arm, only to find it held firmly in place. _'She's stronger than she looks._ ' "Too bad for you, I've had years of combat training in every area imaginable. You had your opening, and I must admit it was a legitimate opening no matter how underhanded it might've been. But now that opening is closed my dear. And you won't get a second one."

"Who ever said that I missed my opening, Blackwood?"

He felt the muscles in her arm twitch under his grip, drawing his gaze to her hand. A long thin metal cylinder was sliding out from a holster on her wrist. Only too late did his brain recognize the shape of a lightsaber. A lightsaber that was pointed right at one of the only places on his body where he couldn't have armor. His eyes.

"Oh shit." Was the only thing he managed to get out before a bright blue light filled his vision and he knew no more.

* * *

A red beam of light shot through the darkened Great Hall of Hogwarts as Dumbledore, who was fighting alone after making sure that Severus was in a safe location, cast another stunning charm at an oncoming Death Eater. _'So much violence._ ' He thought as he cast a binding charm onto the unconscious man before banishing over towards while simultaneously casting a sticking charm on him so he would be kept out of the battle. _'Such waste…'_

Tearing his eyes away from the now incapacitate man, Dumbledore looked around the Great Hall and felt a knot of anguish form in his gut. His school, Hogwarts, was being torn to pieces. A mixture of spells and muggle weapons were destroying the ancient structure one brick at a time. But it wasn't just the destruction of his school that was weighing heavily on his heart. No, it was also the unfortunate loss of life that was occurring all around him.

 _'And for what_?' He thought, flicking another stunning charm over his shoulder and knocking out the witch that'd been trying to sneak up on him. ' _We could've had peace under other terms. Sure, we might've had to concede some points to the Death Eaters…but in time I could've worked out how to defeat Tom. And with him gone, the Emperor would've lost his Voice and we could've had peace. But no…instead Nox had to escalate this war. And now who knows how many have died because of her incompetence!'_

Snapping off another stunning curse, a Death Eater was flung clear across the room and out of one of the stain glass windows. His internal musing was interrupted when a mocking voice brought him to the here and now.

"Hmm…so you do have a decent amount of power. I was starting to worry you wouldn't be entertaining with all this stunning shit you have going on here."

Dumbledore stiffened as the voice from the shadowy recesses of the room reached out to him. He couldn't see the individual who'd spoken. But he could feel them. He could feel the darkness about them. Like an endless abyss into the deepest pit of hell. _'Who is this man?'_ He thought trying, and failing, to isolate the presence in the room. _'Not even Tom has fallen to such levels. I didn't think one could fall to such levels such as this. Could this be the one that Severus spoke of? This…Azcarin?'_

"There is no mistaking this darkness. You are the one they call Azcarin are you not?" Dumbledore called out to the shadows. "Show yourself, fiend of darkness."

Heavy footfalls coming from behind made Dumbledore turn on his heel. Severus had given him several detailed reports about this 'Emperor's Wrath'. But seeing this man, or rather the creature that emerged from the shadows was beyond anything Dumbledore had expected. His skin was completely blood red and he had almost horn-like protrusions jutting out from his cheek bones and where his eyebrows should've been. But it wasn't just his appearance that put Dumbledore off. It was his presence. Now that he wasn't concealing himself…the stench of darkness that was flowing of the creature intensified ten-fold. He was truly, as Severus put it, a true demon.

The demon stopped a dozen paces from Dumbledore and fixed him with an almost amused stare. "Ah yes…I've almost missed these types of insults. I've heard them all from countless Jedi over my time. And every single one of those fuckers fell to my blade in the end. But please, continue. I'm wondering if you can think of any newer insults than the ones used by the Jedi."

 _'I cannot give him time to formulate a plan._ ' Dumbledore thought as Azcarin merely stood there, unarmed and with his arms across his chest. _'I do not relish attacking an unarmed foe…but according to Severus even Tom is scared of this man. But then again…there is always a chance for redemption. No matter how far one has fallen. I shall strive to give even this monstrosity that chance. And when Tom's horcruxes are no more, he too will come to see the light.'_

"Well old fuck?" The demon taunted, spreading his arms wide leaving himself defenseless. "I'm waiting."

Instead of obliging the creature, Dumbledore snapped off nearly a dozen stunning spells in quick succession and all aiming at differing points on the creature's body. But the man did something that only shocked Dumbledore, but also confirmed everything Severus had been telling him about the man. Instead of dodging, the creature merely held up his hand and batted away each spell with his bare hand as if he was swatting at flies buzzing around his head.

"Really?" Azcarin asked, his head tilting to the side. "Stunning spells? How utterly pathetic. And what a letdown. All I've been hearing since my release is how you're one of the greatest Force users on this planet. So naturally, I've been waiting for our inevitable confrontation. But now…now, I see that you're nothing more than a sorry old piece of shit, whose mind has gone soft."

Pursing his lips, Dumbledore upgraded his spell casting to start including hexes and curses. Each of which was either batted away with Azcarin's bare hand, or simply missed as he moved out of the line of fire. "Getting a little better old man." Azcarin taunted as he dodged a cutting curse that'd been aimed at his legs. "But still nowhere near good enough. But I'm tired of this cat and mouse game. Time to have some fun!"

His last word spoken in an earsplitting shout and in response every stained glass window in the Great Hall shattered into thousands of pieces. Each of which hovered in mid-air for the briefest of moments before tilting so their edges were pointing towards the aged wizard.

Dumbledore barely had enough time to form a spherical shield several meters in diameter around his person before the razor-sharp glass shards impacted it. As each shard passed through the barrier, they dissolved into nothing more than sand. Whiling his wand around his body, Dumbledore transfigured the sand into a living statue much the like ones that lined the walls of Hogwarts. The statue immediately drew its sword and charged at Azcarin. But yet again, the creature didn't seem even the slightest bit phased as he simply sidestepped the attack, and slashed with his own glowing red sword, bisecting the statue.

"Not bad old fuck." Azcarin nodded. "I guess you do have a decent amount of power…but how about your physical capacities?"

In the time it took Dumbledore to blink, Azcarin had crossed the distance between them and his sword of light was cutting through the air and aiming right for his neck. It was only by sheer luck that he managed to bend back just enough for the blade to singe his beard but luckily miss his neck. But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, Azcarin kept spinning and the next thing Dumbledore knew he was sailing through the air after receiving the back of the red-faced devil's foot to his jaw.

Shaking his to try and get the spots out of his sight, Dumbledore crawled backwards across the floor away from Azcarin, who was once again just standing there as if he didn't have a care in the world. "Hpmh. Pathetic." Azcarin sighed as he started to calmly walk towards him. "You've counted on your power to maintain your position that you neglected your physical body. A classic and fatal mistake old man. Luckily for you though…you won't be alive long enough to truly regret it."

Propping himself up on one arm, he flicked his wand and sent a powerful and silent cutting curse towards the man's arm that was holding his sword. What happened next happened so fast he could barely process it. Azcarin's sword twitched to the side, his spell struck the edge of the glowing blade…and the next he knew, Dumbledore was short his wand hand. And the Elder Wand was rolling uselessly across the ground away from the two of them.

"Really? A cutting curse?" He heard Azcarin sigh as he continued to stare down at the cauterized stump where his right hand used to be. "I was expecting something a little…more. Especially seeing as how it would probably be your last chance to cast anything before I cut you down. Although I will admit it was powerful and fast. But still…a cutting curse? Fucking pathetic."

The tip of the glowing red sword appeared underneath his chin, forcing his eyes away from his missing hand and up into the cold yellow eyes of the demon before him. "So…any last words old man?"

The space between the two men erupted in flame, forcing Azcarin to jump back as Fawkes flamed into existence between the two of them. "Fawkes…" Dumbledore breathed, more relieved than ever before to have his familiar by his side once more.

"What the fuck?" Azcarin spat. "What is this? Some overgrown pheasant is your last line of defense? And just when I thought you couldn't get any more pathetic." Fawkes gave of a defiant cry at being called a pheasant, but Azcarin didn't seem to care. "Either way, it doesn't matter. After all, you were never my target old man."

Azcarin held up his hand, and Dumbledore realized a moment too late just what he'd meant when Azcarin said he wasn't his target. The Elder Wand, which had been laying uselessly on the floor, twitched once and then started sailing through the air towards Azcarin. But instead of flying into his hand, the wand sailed just above Azcarin's fingertips and past his ear and behind him.

"Well well well…what have we here? Have you two boys started having fun without me? How inconsiderate of you both."

Fawkes started cheering merrily, but Dumbledore couldn't find it within himself to feel good about this turn of events. For standing just within the entrance to the Great Hall, holding the elder wand in her right hand and tapping it against the palm of her left, was perhaps one of the last people he ever wanted to see holding the wand.

"Nox." Azcarin growled, although there seemed to be a tone of excitement to it as well for some reason that eluded Dumbledore. "You always did have a way of showing up exactly where you were unwanted."

"It's a gift Azcarin." Nox shrugged before turning her attention to himself, or rather Fawkes. "Fawkes, if you don't want your master to die I highly suggest you get him the hell out of here before he decides to do something stupid. Like trying to get between myself and Azcarin."

Fawkes gave of a cry, then turned and before Dumbledore could so much as utter a single word, grabbed hold of him. By the time his mind had finally caught up with what was happening, Fawkes's flames had encompassed both of their bodies. And the next he knew, he was laying on the floor of his office and Fawkes was moving up to his perch.

* * *

Standing across the now vacant hall, Nox continued to tap the elder wand against her palm as she and Azcarin stared one another down. "Well…now that the excess baggage is out of the way…how do you want to die Azcarin?"

One of Azcarin's horns above his right eye twitched as the corner of his lips turned upwards. "Tell me Nox…do you even recognize the importance of what you're holding right now?"

"You mean this?" Nox asked, lifting the wand and holding it perpendicular to the ground. "It's the Elder Wand. One of the three fabled 'Deathly Hallows'. Or more specifically…it's one of Vitiate's three horcruxes."

That took Azcarin back, and Nox couldn't help but laugh internally at the unflappable Sith's surprise. "So you have figured it out then Nox." Azcarin nodded, overcoming his surprise. "Although I shouldn't be surprised should I? You always were praised as being one of the brightest and most powerful Sith born in generations. After myself of course."

"Of course," Nox nodded, humoring the Sith. "But tell me Azcarin…why did you give these three away to those brothers all those years ago? You held the keys to your Master's immortality in your hands, and you gave them away instead of using them to your advantage. How very un-Sith like of you Azcarin."

"I never did care about how 'Sith' I looked Nox, you should know this." Azcarin shrugged. "And besides…Vitiate is the closest thing to a true god this plan of existence knows. Destroying his soul anchors would temporarily weaken him. It won't kill him. And until I figure just to go about that, I'm more than happy to be his sword, cutting anything and anyone who dares stand in his path." Both his single bladed lightsaber and saberstaff ignited, illuminating the space around Azcarin with a red glow. "Now come Nox…let us see if your skills have improved at all."

Sliding the wand into a holster on her wrist, Nox snapped her right arm down to her side, sending her own lightsaber into her waiting palm. "I think you'll find Azcarin." Nox smiled as she activated her blood-red blade. "That a lot has changed."

Grinning like a madman, Azcarin settled into a dueling stance with his lightsaber held in front of him and his saberstaff held across his back. "I hope so Nox."

* * *

 **Well, hope that you all liked it! Please leave a review and let me know what y'all thought!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Well folks, here we are! Almost done! Only the epilogue left after this chapter. And I must say, this arch certainly got away from me. I was not expecting this arch (The Rise) to be nearly 500k…man this has gone on long! Anyway, hope that you all enjoy this chapter! And like I said, only the epilogue left after this one. Then we're moving on to the third arch (The Unification War).**

 **A big thank you to my beta readers, How In Mad Howie and Dustan Xenon.**

 **Chapter 26**

"Master Kenobi! We're about to lose the southern wall!"

Blocking a stray spell, Obi-Wan turned towards the southern wall within the courtyard. Just as Harry had said, the top of the wall was littered with dozens of black robed individuals that were pushing hard against the scant few Guardian forces, led by General Rex, that manned it. Twisting in place, Obi-Wan felt the momentary disorientation that came with apparation before he appeared atop the southern wall, lightsaber drawn and at the ready.

Twisting his body, he deflected two spells back towards their casters before repositioning himself between the defenders and the Sith. "Good to see that you could join us Master Kenobi." Rex called, firing his twin blaster pistol, each shot taking down the Sith Forces one by one.

"Thought that you could use a hand." Obi-Wan shot back as he readied himself for the next onslaught.

Hearing a slight crack behind him, Obi-Wan turned and found himself face to face with a robed individual wearing a bone mask. Before he could even move, the masked individual was thrown off the wall by a bolt of light that he recognized as a blasting curse. Turning, he found a grinning Narcissa standing right next to Rex, her wand drawn and at the ready. "And here I thought that you were supposed to be looking after me Obi." Narcissa said, more than slightly cockily. "Not the other way around."

"Don't get cocky Narcissa."

An ear-piercing roar from overhead had all three ducking instinctively. Obi-Wan had to shield his eyes as everything around them was suddenly surrounded in bright orange flames. He could feel the heat of the flames, but it wasn't burning agony as he expected. As the heat passed, he opened his eyes and saw Narcissa collapse slightly. The area immediately surrounding the three of them was still fine, but everything beyond a five-foot radius of them had been reduced to ash.

"Not sure…" Narcissa gasped as she wiped at sweating suddenly coating her face. "How many more…of those shields I'll…be able to make."

After quickly making sure Narcissa was okay, Obi-Wan looked to the sky. A lone dragon, far bigger than any he'd ever heard of before was circling the castle. Flames spewing forth from its jaws as it flew. "That beast is going to make things a lot trickier General." Rex commented, his eyes flowing the dragon as he raised his blaster and shot an approaching Sith soldier dead without looking. "Any ground we gain we'll immediately lose to that beast."

"We're going to have to trust our air support to take care of it." Kenobi responded, watching as several of their fighters began to engage the beast. "For now, we must focus our efforts on reclaiming the courtyard and securing the castle."

"Yes sir." Rex nodded before moving away to check their position.

Kneeling next to Narcissa, Obi-Wan placed a hand on her back. "Are you alright?"

The blond woman nodded, as she used Obi-Wan as a brace to regain her feet. "I will be." She replied. "As long as someone keeps that blasted thing away from…oh you son of a bitch."

Narcissa was staring up at the sky as her words tapered off. Flowing her line of sight, Obi-Wan watched as a single streak of black mist crashed into the upper levels of the castle. "Someone you know?"

"Unfortunately." Narcissa replied, her eyes going hard as she stared at where the mist had landed. "My no good-bastard-son-of-a-bitch ex-husband. And if he's here, now…that can only mean one thing. He's figured out where Draco is."

Obi-Wan could feel her intent, but even still he was too slow to stop her as Narcissa suddenly disappeared with a crack of apparation. "Damn it." Obi-Wan cursed, looking up at the castle. "Always on the move…"

* * *

Pulling his fighter into a tight banking turn, Viktor grunted against the G-forces that were being exerted upon his body. _'Fuck_.' He scursed in his mind while monetarily glad that Hermione wasn't around. _'Even with dampeners, you can still feel the G's on a turn like this. I can't imagine what it would feel like on a broom.'_

"Target is below us and on our two-o'clock." Cedric's voice broke in over their internal comm system as he came out of the sharp turn.

Spotting the dragon, Viktor jerked the stick back the other way, sending them into a tight spiral downwards towards the low flying dragon. "Merlin's balls Viktor!" Cedric yelled at him. "It's a fighter not a fucking broom!"

Ignoring his co-pilot, Viktor focused in on the back of the dragon. Lining up his sights, Viktor let loose a volley of blaster fire, several of which managed to impact the dragon's back before they flew past the beast. "Any damage?" Viktor all but yelled as he pulled back on the stick, just barely managing to pull them out of their dive before going nose first into the field.

 **"Negative on that."** One of their fellow pilots answered. **"Shots just impacted the scales and didn't even phase the damn thing. Bloody fucking hell, what did they do to that thing? Not even dragon scales should be able to withstand the kind of beatdown we're laying on that thing!"**

He wasn't wrong. Ever since the dragon had made a strafing run at the school, every pilot within Guardian forces were focusing in on the beast. But no matter how many times they hit it, the dragon just kept on flying as if they weren't even there. Not even its underbelly was susceptible to their fire. And while they were busy taking useless shots at the beast, the dragon was in turn tearing apart their fighters with its claws, teeth, tail and fire.

Going airborne once again to get above the beast, Viktor's mind started racing as he tried to think of something, anything, that could bring the beast down. Or at very least slow it down. 'Come on Viktor, think like Hermione!' He thought as he kept on eye on the dragon. _'It's hide is all but impregnable. It's almost like they cast a permanent indestructible charm over its scales. So how do we get around that? Or…through it?'_

Slowly, a crazy, plan started to formulate in his mind. Making sure he had everything that he would need, he turned over control within the fighter to Cedric. "Cedric, take over from here. And tell the others to back off of the dragon until my signal."

"What the-" Cedric gasped as the fighter rocked slightly as his co-pilot took control. "Viktor, just what the hell are you thinking?"

"Something completely fucking insane." He answered before focusing on a point well away from any fighter and the dragon before disappearing with a crack of apparation.

Next thing he knew, the wind was rushing past his face as he found himself in free fall. Grabbing at one of the pouches on his belt, he pulled out a shrunken Firebolt, which he quickly unshrunken and sat himself upon before taking off after the dragon. Laying low on his broom, he kept to the dragon's blind spot as he approached the dragon from the backside. Once he was just above the creature's back, he pulled out his wand and cast a quick sticking charm to his boots and gloves.

 _'This is a really bad fucking idea._ ' Viktor thought to himself, just before leapt off his broom and onto the dragons back.

He just barely managed to miss one of the dozen spines lining the creatures back, but even still, the impact with the hard scaly back of the dragon drove most, if not all, of the air out of his lungs. _'Yeah_ …' He groaned, holding on tight as the dragon started diving and twisting through the air. _'Really…really bad idea.'_

Pulling his hand out of his glove, which was still stuck to the dragon's scales, Viktor pulled out his wand again and aimed at a random spot on the dragon's back right in front of his face. 'Let's hope that Hermione was right about this.' Narrowing his eyes, he forced all the magic within his body into his wand, focusing on a single thought. The scales just beyond the tip of his wand wavered as he began forcing more and more of his magic into the spell. 'Come on! Just…a…little…more!' Just as his vision began to darken, he released the spell with a sigh of relief as he watched a small section of scales, no larger than his closed fist, transform from their normal scaly appearance to paper.

 _'It seems like Hermione was right.'_ He thought, his breath coming out in short bursts before he clenched his wand between his teeth so that he could pull out the blaster he kept on his hip. _'Unfortunately, that was the relatively easy part_.' Setting the blaster to its highest setting, Viktor placed the end of the barrel against the transfigured scales and squeezed the trigger.

The dragon immediately started buckling and twisting, crying out in agony as the blaster bolt ripped through the transfigured paper scales and sunk deep into the dragon's organs. Unfortunately for Viktor, while he had anticipated a backlash, he hadn't counted on just how violent the dragon's reaction would truly be. The dragon twisted and turned, dived climbed. Its snake like head twisting back trying to bite at whatever it was that'd hurt it. And during all of this, two things happened. One was that Viktor lost hold of his blaster. And two, and more importantly, he lost his wand to the night sky.

"Fuck!" He cursed, holding onto the dragon for dear life while silently praying that the sticking charms would hold. That was when, as the dragon gave off another loud cry and dove down, that Viktor dared to look up. _'Shite…it's heading right for Hogwarts again!'_

The fighters around them started to try and lead the dragon away, but the beast simply snapped and swatted at the fighters like they were little more than insects as it kept flying straight for the castle. 'They have no protection.' He thought as the spires of Hogwarts slowly got larger and larger. _'How many men did we lose on its first pass? If it hits the castle again…No. We can't let it pass again.'_

Looking up at the hole he'd created in the dragon's back, Viktor reached down to his belt and pulled out a small sphere. Closing his fist around the small object, he brought it up to his eye. Viktor gritted his teeth muttering, "Alright, asshole…let's see if your insides are tough enough to withstand a thermal detonator."

Glancing back down towards the school, Viktor closed his eyes. His wand was gone, so he had only one chance at this. And, if he remembered correctly, only five seconds to do it in. Pressing on the kill switch, Viktor let out a loud yell as he pushed his arm into the opening on the dragon's back all the way up to his elbow. Letting go of the grenade, Viktor immediately, and blindly, apparated to a spot he remembered in the castle. But just as he felt the pull, the detonator went off, his body engulfing in flames as his body twisted away. And then he hit something hard and lost all consciousnesses.

* * *

Skidding around a corner with her lightsaber held high, Ginny spun in a tight circle, bisecting the Death Eater that'd been lying in wait for anyone to pass him by. "Bloody coward." Ginny growled as she kept moving past the dying Death Eater with Ahsoka right next to her.

"It's a common trait amongst those who follow only the dark side." Ahsoka commented as the two began to descend the main staircase leading to the dungeons.

Once the two reached the dungeon level of the castle, they both came to a screeching halt as they came upon Professor Burbage. She was just…standing in the middle of the hall, staring forward towards the staircase with a blank look on her face. Sharing a quick look with Ahsoka, Ginny took a tentative step towards the Muggle Studies Professor. "Um, Professor?"

Burbage's body twitch as a small stream of blood began to tickle out from the corner of her lips and she fell forward to the floor. Ginny's eyes widened as she caught sight of a large ornate dagger that'd been stuck into the professor's back nearly to the hilt. As she stared down at the dead woman, Ginny felt a cold rage overcome her. She didn't know the Professor very well, but she still knew and liked the eccentric woman.

"You have no idea just how long I've dreamed of killing this pathetic blood traitor."

Looking up, Ginny found herself facing a young woman that couldn't have been older than Bill. But despite her age, she was powerful. Probably one of the more powerful Death Eaters they'd encountered yet. But her power was focused so heavily within the dark side of the Force that Ginny nearly felt the urge to gag just from being in the girl's presence. Narrowing her eyes, Ginny activated her lightsaber. "Ahsoka, go ahead. I'll handle this."

Beside her, Ginny heard rather than saw Ahsoka turn towards her. "You sure?"

"I'll be fine." Ginny said, not taking her eyes off the woman, who was now idly stroking her wand as she stared at Ginny. "Go. Nat and the other's need you more than I do."

Ahsoka nodded once before turning on her heel and taking off once more. The Death Eater however made no move to follow as she just kept standing there with a slight smile on her face. "You're not going to try and stop her?" Ginny asked as she side-stepped around Burbage as she inched closer to her opponent.

The Death Eater merely shrugged. "Why should I? After all, it's you Ginny Weasley that I'm after. Or…do you prefer to go by 'Spitfire'?"

Ginny nearly lost her grip on her lightsaber before she reaffirmed her hold. "Where did you hear that name?"

The woman threw her head back and laughed. "From your brother of course." She said casually. "He told me so much about you…I practically feel like we're sisters."

Recognition dawned within Ginny, and with it a blinding rage coursed through her. "You…you're the one! You're the one who tricked my brother to his death!"

"Tricked?" The woman laughed. "That's a strong word. No. Your brother walked into his own death willingly. It was incredibly boring. All I had to do was flash him a smile, my tits and a give him a mild love potion and he was eating out of the palm of my hand within an hour. Although I do suppose that the look of utter hopelessness and despair that crossed his face once I stabbed him in the gut was well worth the trouble."

Ginny's rage grew tenfold as she listened to the woman. She wanted to cut the bitch down! No, not just that. She wanted her to suffer! She shouldn't be gifted with a quick death. She had the ability…she could make the bitches death stretch on for days if she wanted to! And she would. This bitch would suffer like no other for what she-

Ginny nearly doubled over as she felt Harry through their bond. Her Master…wasn't pleased. _'Sorry…Master._ ' Ginny tried to apologize as she quickly worked on regaining control of her emotions. Anger was alright. If used correctly and in moderation. But she couldn't lose herself like she almost did. And she felt like a Learner again for almost falling into the bitch's obvious trap.

Realizing that her plan to unbalance Ginny had failed, the Death Eater sighed. "Well, you're no fun. The Emperor's told us all about you Jedi. How you all constantly deny your emotions. Denying that which defines you. Denying your true potential. I almost didn't quite believe him until now. But you Jedi really are nothing more than walking, unfeeling, statues."

"Oh, I feel." Ginny responded, narrowing her eyes. "Right now, I'm more pissed off than I've ever been in my entire life. But there's a difference between us bitch. I use my emotions. I don't let them use me. It's one of the first things Master Nox and my Master, Harry, hammered into my head when I began my training. And I'm going to use these emotions that you think I'm dying to shut your vile mouth. Permanently."

The Death Eater stared at her blankly for a moment before a wide grin spread across her face. "Excellent. I was starting to be afraid that this was going to be boring. Thank you for proving me wrong Ginny." Retracting her wand into a holster on her arm, the Death Eater reached into the folds of her robe and pulled out a long elegant looking rapier. "Beautiful, isn't it?" She asked, slashing it through the air a few times. "Goblin made and enchanted to be indestructible. And I'm going to use it to gut you just like I did your brother."

Ginny arched one of her eyebrows as she let her wand slide back into its holster. "You want to fight me this way? Fine by me."

The woman smiled as she took a classic dueling stance. "Don't be cocky girl. I've been trained in fencing since I was four. And after I proved my worth to the Emperor, he personally assigned me to be trained by Darth Blackwood to be an assassin. And Darth Blackwood trained me well in how to fight against you Jedi. I know all your moves. And more importantly, how to counter them."

Ginny nearly scoffed. "Really?"

"Yes." The girl smiled. "For instance, you Ginny Weasley use form four ataru almost exclusively. Fast paced, aggressive and excellent against single opponents. However, it has its drawbacks. Which is why I set the stage here, in this narrow corridor where your acrobatics won't mean much. Which deprives you of the best defensive option the form has."

"Perhaps." Ginny said, taking a two-handed grip on her lightsaber and bringing it back up to her right shoulder in a Jedi ready stance. "But we'll never know until we begin, will we bitch?"

"Your funeral." The Death Eater smiled before lunged at Ginny.

Ginny waited until the very last moment before angling her body just enough so that the lunge would go wide. She then brought lightsaber to bear, using a fluid riposte to parry the attack and counterstrike. The Death Eater blinked dumbly as she stared first at Ginny, and then down at the green lightsaber that was in her chest. Grabbing the Death Eater by the shoulder, Ginny pushed forward until her entire lightsaber was buried in the woman's chest. "You're right." Ginny said lowly as the rapier fell uselessly to the floor. "I do use ataru more often than not. But, my Master is a highly skilled practitioner of Shien and Djem So, and I picked up more than a few tricks from him."

Yanking her lightsaber out of the bitch's chest, Ginny watched with a sense of satisfaction as the Death Eater fell to the ground, clutching uselessly at her chest in vain attempt to hold on to life. Stepping over the body, Ginny used the Force to summon the woman's rapier into her hand. It was definitely goblin made, more than likely a family heirloom. "By the way," Ginny said as the light started to leave the woman's eyes. "I'm taking this."

Turning her back on the Death Eater, she tightened her grip on both the rapier and her lightsaber as she set off after Ahsoka. _'Rest easy Percy…your death has been avenged.'_

* * *

Crying out in agony, Astoria curled into a tight ball as every nerve in her body felt like it was on fire. "Ah, this was almost too easy." Her tormentor laughed as the pain suddenly receded.

Picking up her head, Astoria glared, or at least tried to, at the woman that was standing above her. The Death Eaters hadn't caught them by surprise, not that they could considering they were in a bottleneck corridor with only one way in and out. But while that fact had saved them from a surprise attack, it had also been their downfall as the Death Eaters had simply thrown one witch or wizard after another at herself, Nat, Gabrielle and Hagrid until the four of them were too tired to put up a proper defense. And it was only when that point was reached that the Carrow twins had decided to attack. And in no time at all, the four had been overwhelmed and now each were bound being questioned.

Trying to push herself up, Astoria had the wind knocked out of her as a heavy boot collided with her back and forced her back down. "None of that now." Alecto Carrow sneered as the tip of her wand appeared in Astoria's line of sight. "Now then…if you don't want to feel that again, tell us…where are the younger years and the prisoners you've taken!"

Spitting out a wad of blood, Astoria turned her head just enough so that she could meet the Death Eaters eyes. "Go…to hell."

Once the battle had begun Astoria, along with Gabrielle and Nat, had decided that standing guard over the young years would only lead the Sith directly to them. So, after stunning and disarming every marked student, they sealed the younger years in a classroom and took off to the opposite side of the castle. They'd wanted Hagrid to stay with them as a last line of defense, but the gentle giant had flat out refused to let them go alone.

"Filthy blood traitor." Alecto cursed as she increased the pressure on Astoria's back. "You there, grab her hand and hold her down."

Astoria tried to keep her arms curled in, but the hand that grabbed her arm was far too persistent and pulled her arm out straight despite her best efforts. "Now," Alecto cooed, her foot leaving Astoria's back as her wand began tracing patterns on the back of her outstretched hand. "You have five fingers, so five chances. Tell me where they are…or I cast a disintegration hex on your fingers one at a time. And trust me girl, you may think you know pain. But really don't. So, tell me. Where. Are. You're. Prisoners."

"Leave her 'lone ya bloody cowards!"

Sighing, Alecto took her eyes off Astoria and glared at the half-giant that was hogtied on the floor. "For the love of magic, someone shove a gag in the creature's mouth already!"

Astoria's vision of Hagrid was blocked as Alecto once again squatted down in front of her, effectively blocking her sight. "Now then, where were we? Oh yes, I remember. How does that muggle saying going again? Oh yes, I remember. Eeny. Meeny. Miny. M- oh!"

Astoria had been bracing herself for the pain she knew was about to happen by closing her eyes, but when cries of alarm came instead of pain, she risked opening her eyes. "Knight Tano!"

"Master!"

Astoria wasn't sure just how the alien knight had managed to do it, but she'd managed to push all the Death Eaters away from Astoria and the others and place herself in-between them. Ahsoka spared only a quick reassuring glance at her over her shoulder before facing off against the half-dozen Sith that'd been holding them hostage. "Back away now," Ahsoka said, her voice harder than Astoria could ever remember. "And I'll let you all walk away from here intact and alive."

Taking her eyes off of her savior, Astoria stared down the hall towards the Carrow twins and the other Death Eaters. "You…will let us go?" Amycus Carrow laughed. "Oh my, that's rich. There's only one of you, and six of us."

"Yes, I can count." Ahsoka responded. "Although, I must say that I'm surprised to find one amongst you who actually has the brain power to count up that high. Must be an anomaly, or did you just guess?"

Amycus face turned a rather interesting shade of red as he started sputtering. "Y-y-y-you bitch! I'll teach you-"

"She's goading you brother." Alecto said, holding out her hand stopping her twin in his tracks. "Trying to get us to attack her one at a time or in an uncoordinated fashion. Too bad for you, it won't work. Now, I was planning on letting die quickly. But now…now I'm not. I'm going to give you to some of the Emperor's more…lecherous followers. They'll just love to have the chance to 'break-in' Potter's head bitch. By the time they're done with you…you'll only be able to wish for-"

A loud 'clunk' stopped Alecto mid rant. The noise was followed soon by a second. And then a third. Staring down the hall, Astoria felt her eyes widen as she saw just what, or rather who, was making the noise. "What the fuck?" Amycus said as he turned around and found none other than Master Yoda standing just a few paces behind.

"Master Yoda." Astoria breathed, a swell of hope great than the one that even Ahsoka produced forming in her chest.

Master Yoda stared first at the Death Eaters before turning and looking towards Astoria and the others. "Harming younglings. Disgraceful. Unforgivable, this is."

"What the fuck?" One of the Death Eaters scoffed. "They sent a fucking half-gremlin-half-house elf to fight us? I mean, I know that these Guardians were scraping the bottom of the barrel looking for recruits, but this is just pathetic!"

Master Yoda didn't respond to the taunt, preferring instead to keep his eyes on the Carrow twins. "Knight Tano. Create a barrier you will. Deal with these miscreants, I shall."

Astoria felt her eyes widen even further as Knight Tano took a step back towards them and created an opaque shield that separated them from Master Yoda and the Death Eaters. Once the shield was in place, Master Yoda's cane disappeared into the wrist bracer on his left arm, while the one on his right produced his lightsaber.

"Wait, this thing is actually going to fight us?" Another Death Eater laughed. "Oh, this is gonna be fucking ric-ahhh!"

The Death Eater's cry echoed through the hall as Master Yoda activated his green lightsaber and leapt, closing the distance between himself and the offending man in less than a heartbeat and brining his lightsaber down in Hawk-Bat Swoop, cleaving the man from collarbone to hip in one strike.

From her spot on the ground, Astoria could do little more than marvel as she watched the diminutive Jedi Master flip and fly as if he was part avian. He was moving so fast that the Death Eaters couldn't follow his movements, which resulted in them hitting each other with their spells and curses as Master Yoda moved between them. The fight lasted only for a few seconds, but in the end the only two who were left standing was Alecto and Master Yoda.

Alecto's left arm was hanging uselessly down by her side after receiving a powerful cutting curse to her bicep curtesy of a poorly aimed cutting curse from her twin, which was better than the killing curse that Amycus had caught full in face from Alecto. "You…" Alecto gasped, her breath coming in and out in short bursts. "You…you killed my brother!"

Deactivating his lightsaber, Master Yoda tucked the metal cylinder back onto his waist before re-enlarging his glimmer stick. "Fell your brother, I did not. Cast the spell, you did."

Alecto's face had gone red with rage as she raised her wand above her head. "Die you fucking gremlin!"

The killing curse leapt out of the end of her wand and went straight for Master Yoda. But instead of dodging, the aged Jedi merely raised his hand and…caught the killing curse in his bare hand. "Depend on your anger, your hatred. Too much, you do." Yoda lectured as he continued to hold onto the spell, the green light connecting him to Alecto's wand. "Remorse for your actions, you have not."

"Of course not!" Alecto screamed, and Astoria could almost feel as the Death Eater started trying to put more power behind her curse. But no matter how much she put into it, Master Yoda merely stood there completely calm. "I'm a witch! A Sith! And I'm fucking proud of it!"

"Sith…you are." Master Yoda's voice almost seemed remorseful as he spoke. "Jedi, I am. Do my duty, I must."

Taking a single step forward, Master Yoda pushed his hand forward. A shockwave spread throughout the hall as the green light of the killing curse was rebounded off Yoda's hand and back towards Alecto. The Death Eater could only give off a single shrill shriek before the light washed over her, and then her voice tapered off as she collapsed limply to the ground. Dead.

With the last of the Death Eater's dead, Master Yoda let off a low sigh before pulling his wand out of his glimmer stick. "Knight Tano." He called out as he waved his wand, levitating all the dead Death Eaters up and moving them out of the center of the hall.

"Yes Master?" Ahsoka responded as she dropped her shield.

"Return to the front lines, you must." Master Yoda stated as he dropped the Death Eaters into a pile. "Stay and guard the younglings, aid them, I will."

Turning to look at Ahsoka, Astoria could see the indecision etched upon the Knight's face as clear as day. But after only a moment of silence, and a single look back at Nat, Ahsoka nodded and gently laid the little nautolan back down onto the ground. "As you say, Master Yoda." Ahsoka said with a slight hitch in her voice. "Please…protect them."

"Of that, my oath you have, Knight Tano." Master Yoda nodded as he lazily waved his wand, conjuring up a soft bed out of the floor underneath Astoria and the others.

Just as Ahsoka was about to take off, a new person skidded around the corner. Both Ahsoka and Master Yoda drew their lightsabers, and both froze just as quickly as the person came to a skidding stop with both hands raised. "Whoa! I– uh, surrender?" Ginny said slowly, staring down the ends of both Master Yoda's and Ahsoka's lightsabers as she kept both hands, one holding her deactivated lightsaber and the other holding a rapier of all things.

"You're late." Ahoska stated, deactivating her lightsaber as she passed Ginny by.

"Got hung up for a moment." Ginny replied, her head going back and forth between Ahsoka and the others. "Um, where are we going?"

"Back to the front, go you must. Watch over the younglings, I will." Master Yoda replied, conjuring up a small chair which he climbed up into. "Need you soon, your Master will."

Ginny blinked, but nodded quickly. "Yes Master Yoda." She replied before bowing to the ancient Master and taking off after Ahsoka.

Astoria looked at the departing girls then back towards Master Yoda, "Er..Master Yoda? You do know this position was merely a feint, to draw the Sith away from real position?"

Yoda, now comfortably sitting on his chair hummed in agreement, "Know this I do. Away from the front you should be." The old Jedi master sighed, "Distasteful war is, for younglings it is not."

* * *

Running through the halls of Hogwarts, Narcissa ignored the fighting going on around her, her attention focused solely on the upper levels of the castle where her ex-husband had landed. _'That bastard._ ' She hissed in her mind as she bounded up the stairs, taking them two or three at a time. _'He's after Draco. No doubt to drag my son even further into his previsions. But I won't let him. Draco may have fallen…but I won't let him fall to the level of his father or their master.'_

Stopping on the fourth floor, Narcissa stood in the middle of the hall leading to the area where the marked students were being held and waited. She didn't have to wait long as a black mist impacted the floor and solidified into the form of a man wearing a bone mask. "Hello Lucius."

The figure stood before her silently for but a moment before raising a hand to its face and making the bone mask disappear in a cloud of black smoke. "Narcissa." Her former husband sneered. "I'm surprised to find you of all people here."

"Where else would I be?" She asked, palming her wand. "Someone has to protect my son from your idiocy."

Lucius regarded her as if she'd just said something incredibly amusing. "'Your son'?" He repeated with a shake of his head. "Do you want to know what he said to me just before coming back to this school? He told me that his Aunt Bellatrix is more of a mother to him than the…what were the words he used again? Oh yes. More so than the blood traitorous bitch that birthed him."

The words struck her right in the heart, but Narcissa kept her face completely impassive as she met the cocky grin of her former husband. "He's still a child." She countered. "A child that has been corrupted by you. And no matter what he says or what words you've put into his head, he is still my son. And I will do everything that I can to ensure he lives."

"Then you should've stayed with us!" Lucius shouted, his eyes almost glowing with anger as he took a half step towards her. "Do you have even the faintest idea what your betrayal cost the Malfoy name? How I had to grovel on my hands and knees before the Emperor to ensure him of my and Draco's loyalty to the cause?"

"I couldn't give two shits about the Malfoy name!" Narcissa shouted, her wand snapping down into her palm almost of its own accord. "I care about my son! The Emperor doesn't give a shite about anyone or anything! To him, you're all disposable pawns to be used and discarded when it best suits him! I really don't care if you're willing to be used and killed in a such a fashion, but I won't allow such a fate to befall Draco! Even if he hates me for the rest of his life…even if he never speaks to me again…he will still be alive. And that is all that I care about."

Lucius seemed slightly startled by her outburst, but he quickly recovered as he nodded towards her wand. "And what do you think you're going to do with that? Fight me? Please…you couldn't fight off a fly."

Smiling, Narcissa took up a modified dueling stance, her feet spread, her off hand in front of her and her wand hand held up near her eye level. "Ah, good old Lucius. Still underestimating me. How do you think I managed to get out of the manor? Pure luck or my good looks? No. It was my skill with magic and wits that made all of your underlings look like pathetic fools."

Lucius stared at her with utter contempt. "Fine." He growled, pulling his wand out of his cane. "It's far past time for me to correct my mistake! _Avada Kedavra_!"

Narcissa knew that the spell was coming even before Lucius drew his wand. Her ex-husband was nothing if not predictable that was for sure. Stepping to the side, Narcissa let the green light pass her by useless before responding with a quick cutting curse towards his legs. But Lucius proved to be just as agile as she thought as he deftly sidestepped her curse and returned the favor with one of his own. Snapping her wand down, she deflected the curse with a slight shield and countered back.

The hall filled with the sound of Lucius shouting spells at the top of his lungs as he began to get angrier and angrier as Narcissa continued to deflect or dodge each spell that was sent her way before countering. "Hold still you bitch! _Avada Kedavra_!"

Pirouetting, Narcissa spun out of the path of the killing curse and retaliated with three cutting curses of her own. Lucius managed to block two, but the third managed to graze him in his wand arm. Despite scoring a hit, Narcissa remained impassive, her face completely serene as she resumed her dueling stance and waited for the next barrage.

"What the fuck…" Lucius growled, his breath coming in and out in short pants. "Where did you learn to fight like this?"

"A new friend." Narcissa explained, not able help the slight skip in her heart that happened whenever she through of Kenobi. _'Focus Narcissa! Now is not the time to swoon like some school girl with a crush!'_ "He's the one who rescued me from your flunkies and he's been helping me to…refine my technique as of late."

"Is that so?" Lucius sneered. "Well then…I'll have to present your corpse to him then! _Avada Kedav_ -"

Narcissa had managed to cross the expanse between them before Lucius could utter the last syllable of the spell. Her fist, while small, was able to do just enough as she imbedded it as hard as she could right into Lucius's diaphragm. Her ex-husband doubled over as all the breath left him, and with two quick flicks of her wand she sent his wand flying away from him and sent a bound Lucius to the ground. "It's over Lucius."

Lucius glared up at her from his spot on the ground. "If you truly believe that…then you're as fool as you are stupid! I managed a situation like this before, thrived even! I simply need to bide my time. Send me to whatever prison you wish…Draco will not leave me. I will get out one day and I will come for you, you bitch!"

Narcissa stilled as she stared down the length of her wand at her ex. "You're right," she nodded. "You would get out eventually…and as long as you live you will still have a hold on Draco."

Lucius' eyes narrowed and then widened as realization dawned on him. "You…you can't! I surrender! You can't…this is against the light!" Her stance and eyes didn't waver, causing Lucius to get desperate with his pleas. "Narcissa…think of all the good times we-"

"We never had any good times Lucius."

Sweat was forming on his brow as his eyes, the only part of his body that could move, darted around widely. "Draco! Our son…he won't forgive you for this!"

"Probably not." Narcissa agreed, her wand never leaving him. "In fact, he might just hate me for this. But as I said Lucius. He will be alive. And free from you."

Lucius was nearly shaking now. "Narcissa-"

 _"Avada Kedavra."_

The green light leapt from her wand, and in almost slow motion, Narcissa watched as the light connected with Lucius's chest, ending his life. 'Finally,' Narcissa breathed, removing her wand from her ex-husband. 'I'm free. And so is Draco.' "You can come out now Obi-Wan."

Light footfalls came from around the corner as the former Jedi, now Guardian, Master came around the corner and towards her. His face was completely blank as he strode towards her. His eyes flickering only once down towards Lucius before refocusing in on her. Narcissa felt her heart thump with each step he took. _'Morgana damn it! Why doesn't he say something already!'_

Narcissa's patience finally wore out as Obi-Wan stopped within arm's reach of her. "Do you hate me now?"

Her heart nearly stopped as she asked the question without realizing it. Part of her, a large part, didn't want him to answer. If he said 'yes'…she didn't know what she would do. Ever since she'd fled the Death Eaters, Obi-Wan had been a constant source of strength and comfort for her. If he turned his back on her now…Morgana help her.

Obi-Wan broke eye contact with her to look down at the corpse. "No. I don't hate you Narcissa. I don't think I could. And before you ask…while I do not agree with killing captured foes…I understand why you did it. And I don't blame you for it in the slightest."

Narcissa felt as if a weight had been lifted from her heart. Without realizing it her feet moved her towards Obi-Wan. The Master blinked at her, but before he could move her hands had already come up and were running lightly through his beard. And then, without planning it, her body leaned forward as her hands pulled him towards her, and their lips touched ever so slightly. The kiss lasted only for a moment, but in the that moment Narcissa felt like a little girl again being kissed for the first time, especially when Obi-Wan stared to reciprocate.

Before they could get carried away, and while she still had some functionality of her mind, Narcissa pulled back and coughed slightly. "Well…umm…that was…bloody wonderful."

Obi-Wan stared at her blankly. Slowly, the corners of his lips turned upwards. "I couldn't have said it better myself Narcissa."

Licking her lips, Narcissa straightened herself. "Right…well, we will be continuing on with this later dear Obi-Wan when we are not in the middle of a warzone."

Obi-Wan's slight smirk turned into a full-fledged smile. "I look forward to after the battle then my dear. Now, shall we?"

"Yes," Narcissa nodded, while silently cursing whatever divinities that existed for making her blush. "Let's finish this Obi."

* * *

Blocking the overhead strike, Nox lashed out with a force push, forcing Azcarin to backpedal and then flip backwards as he reached the edge of the stairs she'd been pushing him too. "Impressive Nox." Azcarin grinned as he landed lightly on his feet at the bottom of the stairs. "I must say, your skills with a lightsaber have improved dramatically since our joined venture against Revan all those years ago."

"I should hope so Azcarin." Nox replied, descending the stairs towards her opponent. "After all, I've spent the past year practicing with an Ataru master and a Soresu master. I'd be quite disappointed if I hadn't improved."

Feeling a pulse from the Force, Nox took a single step to the side as a Death Eater landed right where she'd been standing. Pulling his wand, the young man turned towards her with a look of pure rage on his face. "Die bitc- ah!"

The young man's words cut off as Azcarin used the force to grab the young man by his throat and lift him clear of the ground. "She's mine." Azcarin growled, his hand extended, and his fingers curled inwards. "No one fights her but me!" With a twitch of his hand, the young man's neck snapped like kindling and he dropped to the ground dead.

"Good to see that some things haven't changed." Nox remarked as she stepped over the dead body and continued down the landing Azcarin was standing on. "You still kill your followers as easily as you do your enemies."

Azcarin grinned as he shrugged. "It's one of the reasons why I'm stronger than you Nox. I'm willing to cut away any weakness."

"No." Nox shook her head. "It's why you're alone."

Lunging forward, Nox brought her lightsaber down towards Azcarin's head. The Sith pureblood raised his single lightsaber to block before countering with a slash from this saberstaff. Ducking under the blow, Nox felt the heat of the saberstaff pass over her head as she used a Force push to move her past Azcarin just as his lightsaber came down where she'd been standing. Going back on the offensive, Nox spun low using Ataru as she advanced on the Sith. Azcarin blocked each of his strikes before countering and forcing her to fall back on Soresu as she backpedaled away from Azcarin's vicious onslaught of attacks.

Leaping over a low attack at her legs, Nox flipped over Azcain's head, her left hand pointing down at the ground as her right brought her saber down on him. Azcarin raised his saberstaff to block her overhead attack, and then leapt forward to avoid floor she'd transfigured into quicksand. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Nox spun and raised both of her hands, sending a bolt of heavily concentrated green-Force lightning at the Sith.

Azcarin, while still recovering from his escape of her trap, didn't have time to properly block the attack and was forced to block with his lightsaber. The bolt detonated as soon as it encountered the blade, throwing Azcarin back, through the window behind him and down in the small courtyard below.

Running towards the opening, Nox immediately had to apparate away to the far side of the courtyard as a stone statue came flying into the window. Her feet barely managed to touch back down before she felt a Force push slam into her gut, sending her through the air out of the courtyard and away from the school.

Landing on her feet, Nox rolled forward as Azcarin came flying down, his lightsaber stabbing deep into the spot where she'd landed. Regaining her footing, Nox quickly looked around her surroundings. They were well outside of the school grounds at this point. In fact, they were far closer to the Forbidden forest than they were to the castle. ' _Good.'_ Nox thought as she readied herself. ' _We're clear away from everyone else. I don't have to keep holding back anymore.'_

"Ah Nox, you have no idea just how long I've been dreaming of this moment." Azcarin almost purred as he slowly rose to his feet, both lightsaber and saberstaff pointing away from her. "The moment when you and I would cross blades."

"Really?" Nox asked despite herself.

"Of course. I've been fascinated by you ever since I learned your name." Azcarin replied, turning back around to face her. "You were slave Nox. You weren't supposed to survive Korriban, let alone became a full-fledged apprentince to a Sith Lord. But you did. And then you killed anyone, including your own Master, that stood in your way as your rose to the top of the Sith Order. You killed Sith Lords. Jedi Knights. Jedi Masters. And several Darths. And in the end, you became the youngest Dark Council member since its formation. And perhaps one of the most powerful Sith in the Empire next to myself, Marr and the Emperor himself. How could I not dream of the moment when you and I would finally cross blades? And I must say…you are not disappointing me in the least."

"Glad you approve." Nox remarked. "You however, I'm most disappointed in. I expected more from the Emperor's Wrath Azcarin. What's the matter? Spent too long sleeping your kennel like a good little doggie waiting for his Master's permission to wake?"

Throwing his head back, Azcarin let out a throaty laugh. "Oh Nox, how I have missed your wit." What he did next caught Nox completely off-guard. Azcarin deactivated his lightsabers and put them both back on his belt. "But I'm done talking just yet. You see, I was looking forward to this meeting, that was until the Empire and the Republic formed an alliance against the Revanites and you and I came face to face once again. With one look I knew. You'd become weak, complacent, corrupted, and I knew exactly why. Instead of corrupting your little pet Jedi…she corrupted you. So I, I did what I had to do to bring Darth Nox back."

Reaching towards the small of his back, Azcarin brought out a third lightsaber. As soon as Nox saw the hilt, and the blue blade that emerged from it, she almost lost her grip on her own lightsaber. She knew that lightsaber. She knew it almost as well as she knew her own. After all, she was sitting right next to Ashara as she built it within their cabin.

"She put up one hell of a fight." Azcarin smiled as he looked down at the blade. "I almost thought that she might actually be the one to kill me. But in the end, she failed. And with her last breath she whispered your name."

Nox's mind began reeling as a red-hot rage she hadn't felt in long time coursed through her entire being. "Why?"

Azcarin gave her a quizzical look. "Why? I thought it would be obvious. She was corrupting you. Making you weak. She made you lose the spark in your eye that marked you as one of the most powerful Sith in millennia. But after she was removed, that spark returned. You returned to who you truly are, Darth Nox. And your retribution against those I set up to take the fall for your Jedi's death was all the proof I needed to know that I made the right decision."

Any reason that was left in Nox's mind was slowly evaporating as the darkness spread within her, even as she tried desperately to fight against it. "You…you killed Ashara."

Grinning, Azcarin held her lover's lightsaber aloft. "Yes, I did. And now, I'm going to use your lover's lightsaber to send you to her."

Like a shot, Azcarin sped towards her, Ashara's blade held high ready to cut her down. Raising her own lightsaber, Nox waited for the Sith to come closer. Just before Azcarin reached her, she let out a breath. ' _For you…Ashara. My love.'_ She whispered into the ether of the Force before deactivating her lightsaber.

* * *

Rushing towards Nox, Azcarin could almost feel the beat of his heart in his chest. Never had he ever felt such…elation. He'd never been afraid before during a fight. Not even when he fought against Revan. Not even against his own Master. But against Nox…against Nox he knew the fear of uncertainty. Nox was one of the few in the galaxy that could kill him. To fight against her and know this fear…there was no greater pleasure or strength that came from it. And now that he'd revealed that it was he who killed her former lover…that elation only grew. The look in her eyes…like she wanted to peel the skin from his flesh one strip at a time. This…this was the true form of Darth Nox. The true adversary he'd been waiting a lifetime for.

But just as the two were about to clash and continue their dance of death, Nox's lightsaber deactivated, allowing his own lightsaber to travel unimpeded right into her chest. "No." He breathed in horror, staring down at the blue bladed embedded in Nox's chest before looking up at her face. Almost in slow motion, her body fell backwards as the blue blade slid out of her. "No. You stupid bitch! Why? Why did you do this? Who will be the one to inspire such fear in me now? Huh? Who else will threaten me with death so easily?"

Then he blinked. Where once Nox had been falling…now only her cloak was falling to the ground. "I intend to do more than threaten you with death. _Rikujokoro_."

Azcarin felt something, six rods of light to be exact, slam into him from different angles. And as soon as they did, he found himself completely immobilized, both physically and through the Force. A slim hand reached around from behind him and daftly plucked the lightsaber from his grasp. "I'll be taking this back."

Azcarin couldn't help but gawk as Nox stepped out from behind him. His eyes, the only part of his body that could move, darted back and forth from Nox's pierced cloak to Nox, standing whole and unharmed. _'No…it isn't possible. I felt the blade pierce her flesh! I saw her die! I felt her die for a moment! How? Not even a force illusion can do this!'_

Despite himself, Azcarin laughed as he saw the look in her eyes. "Incredible!" He laughed, or as much as he could with what little he could move his jaw. "Your hatred has made you more powerful than even I anticipated! You may scream and deny it, but both you and I know that truth. The power that lies in the darkness. The power that you have once again embraced! Once again, Darth Nox will walk the galaxy and all will fall before her!"

Nox's face didn't change once, not even a slight twitch of a muscle. She just stood there, staring at him while holding onto the Jedi's lightsaber. "No." Nox said simply, making Azcarin frown. "If one were to use solely the dark side alone…they would never be able to do what I just did. It isn't the darkness that makes me powerful Azcarin. What makes me powerful is the same thing that made Revan so powerful. Balance."

"Balance?" Azcarin almost spat the word out. "Complete and utter shit! There is no such thing! The only true power is the power of the dark side! You may be able to fool the Jedi that follow you, you might even try to fool yourself. But I know the truth. You are still Darth Nox. The Sith Lady who cut a bloody path through the galaxy on her rise to power! And you will do so again!"

Nox's eyes never left his as she deactivated the blue lightsaber and clipped it onto her belt. "I wouldn't expect one such as yourself to understand. And I'm not going to bother trying to explain it to you either Azcarin." Nox said, taking a step towards him. "Darth Nox started dying the moment she went into stasis on Korriban. And now…with your death the last remnants of her will die as well. Alone. And in the darkness. As is the fate of all who follow only the path of darkness."

Her right hand rose to chest height, her fingers forming a 'V' over her palm with her thumb in-between. "May the Force reject you forever Azcarin. _Kurohitsugi_."

Azcarin struggled as Nox took a step back, only to be replaced by a black wall which was slowly rising around him, cutting him off from the world around them. As the last spec of light began to fade, Azcarin finally knew true fear. The fear of death. And he laughed.

* * *

Standing on his perch overlooking the battle for the castle, Emperor Vitiate frowned as he felt a quiver from the Force. His last, and best, weapon had just met its end. _'First Blackwood. Now Azcarin_.' He growled turning his back on the battle. ' _Useless. All of them.'_

Walking down the slight slope, Vitiate walked up what remained of his forces. Only a few dozen of his Condemned remained. A few dozen of the hundreds he'd sent into the castle to secure his new temple. A temple that was defended by children, a handful of Jedi and a few squadrons of soldiers. _'Failures_.' Vitiate cursed even as he felt Voldemort trying to emerge from the hole he'd put him in. _'All of them. Nothing but failures_.'

Walking up to the closest of the Condemned, Vitiate put his hands behind his back and turned back around so he was once again facing the castle. **"Retrieve the diadem."** He commanded without looking back. **"Kill whoever gets in your way. And bring it to me. Go."**

The Condemned didn't answer, not that they could. They simply vanished through apparation, leaving Vitiate alone overlooking the ongoing battle. _'In the end though, it won't matter._ ' He thought, looking up into the night sky which had begun to chill quickly. _'They will all die in the end. All to feed a better purpose.'_ With that last thought, and with a smile upon his face, Vitiate disapparated away from his spot.

* * *

Watching as the last of the black coffin surrounded Azcarin, Nox let out a shuddering breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. This spell…it was not one to be used lightly. It created an isolated pocket of space within that was subjected to untold numbers of blackholes and gravity defying constructs. It also cut the victim off completely from the Force to prevent them from trying to break free.

Almost as soon as the coffin was complete, it disintegrated. The figure that was inside could barely even be considered humanoid anymore. It'd been bent, broken and twisted to the point where it was little more than a mass of flesh, bone and blood.

Turning her back on the pile, Nox made it two steps back towards the castle before her strength gave out and she collapsed to her hands and knees. A coppery liquid filled her mouth as she coughed, spitting blood out on the grass. _'Fuck_.' She groaned, spitting out another wad of blood. _'That…that was not what I expected at all_.'

Azcarin had been right. What she'd done hadn't been a Force illusion. There was no illusion that could be created in such a short amount of time that would've been powerful enough fool one of Azcarin's caliber. No, what she'd performed was an incredibly obscure magical technique known as Utsusemi or rather Cicada Shell. When in use, the practitioner moved so fast without apparating that they left behind a 'clone' of themselves for a moment. The problem with that, was simple physics. No mortal body, no matter how durable, was made to travel at such speeds. Through the Force she could feel her multitude of internal injuries from broken bones, to torn ligaments to bruised organs. She was a mess. The only reason she'd even been able to stand as long as she had in front of Azcarin was because she'd been using the Force to hold her upright like a puppet on strings.

"Well Ziri, I never expected to find you of all people in this position."

Nox felt every fiber within her being freeze. ' _No…it…it can't be_.' She thought even as her heart started beating wildly in her chest with longing. Raising her head ever so slightly, she found herself face to face with an orange skinned torgruta with large white markings around her eyes and long montrals that nearly reached her waist. "Ashara." Nox breathed, not believing what she was seeing, and feeling, as she stared at her long dead lover. "No. You…you shouldn't be here. You should be one with the Force. At peace."

Ashara's lips turned upwards as she smiled. "Oh Ziri. I am one with the Force. More so than I ever thought possible."

Nox's brow furrowed as she struggled to sit upright. "But…how are you here? The Veil around this planet should be preventing any…outside interference."

Ashara nodded, her smile fading ever so slightly. "That's true. And for a long time it has. But ever since you came here, our bond allowed me a window of sorts into this world. A hazy window, and one that I could not pass through, but a window nonetheless. But now, now the Veil has almost completely diminished. And those who are able to do so within the Force can pass through it with enough focus."

"Those who are able to do so?" Nox questioned.

"She means us Darth Nox."

Turning her head to the side, Nox blinked dumbly. "Darth Marr…Master Shan." She said, giving an ever so slight nod to the two Force ghost that'd appeared to her left and right respectively. "Well…isn't this one big happy family reunion. Here to give me another task? Cause if you haven't noticed, I'm still tits deep in the last one you two gave me."

"We're here because you need our help Nox."

Looking over Ashara's shoulder, Nox sighed as a fourth presence made himself known. "Revan." Nox greeted cordially. "Okay, I'll bite. What do I need your help for?"

It was Ashara who answered. "Your plan for the Emperor Ziri. It won't work anymore."

Feeling another headache coming on, along with every muscle in her body enflamed, Nox groaned. "Fucking wonderful. Okay, why won't it work?"

"The Emperor has had too much time to recover his strength through physical representations of his ritual." Satele Shan explained. "Through these creatures that you call dementors."

"Even after the destruction of his soul anchors, he will have too much power to simply be banished by your ritual Nox." Darth Marr finished for the Jedi Master.

Groaning, Nox felt what little strength she had left leave her as she collapsed back down onto the ground. "Fuck…I thought that he might get stronger. But to resist the banishing…fuck. Then…all of this…it's all been for naught."

Feeling a slap upside her head, Nox jerked upright. Ashara was sitting right next to her, a light smile playing on her face. "I never knew you to be one to give up so easily Ziri. And besides, do you think that the four of us would just come to you now just to tell you that all hope is lost? Please, what happened to the Ziri that I love? The woman who walked right into the Dark Council chambers, back talked to the most powerful Sith in the galaxy, and then completely bitch slapped a council member without even batting an eye?"

Blinking, Nox looked at each of the four Force ghosts in turn. "You're here to help? How?"

"Simple." Darth Marr said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You alone cannot hope to banish the Emperor. Therefore, the five of us will do it. As one."

And with that, their plan slammed home in Nox's mind. "No." She breathed, shaking her head.

"You've done it before Nox." Revan reminded her. "This will be no different."

"It will be!" Nox shouted before instantly regretting it as her body was wracked with pain from her sudden movement and she collapsed once again to the dirt. "Those were Sith that I bound before. They weren't one with the Force. Ashara…all of you are one with the Force. If I bind you…there's…it could damage your connections to the Living Force and-"

"And we could die." Satele Shan stated plainly. "Or rather cease to exist. We know this of this possibility. And we accept it."

"Ziri." Ashara said softly, one ghostly hand lightly brushing against Nox's black hair. "This is our choice. Just like it is yours. We will do anything, even cease to exist, if it means removing one such as Vitiate. Seal the pact in blood Nox…and our power will be yours."

Staring up into her lover's eyes, Nox tried to nonverbally talk her out of this course of action. But Ashara merely held her gaze, not giving an inch. "Still as stubborn as ever." Nox sighed, breaking their deadlock and slowly picking herself up off the ground.

"Really Ziri?" Ashara grinned. "You calling me stubborn? That's rich."

"Yeah yeah, bite me." Nox grumbled before quickly holding up a finger as Ashara grinned. "And don't say it. That's my line girl and you know it."

"As touching as this is, we do not have time for it." Revan cut in, ending the all too brief moment. "Seal the pact with blood Nox. And our power will be yours until the Emperor is no more."

Nodding, Nox pulled out her wand and with a light cutting curse opened the palm of her hand. Her blood flowed freely from the wound and onto the ground below as she channeled the Force into the wound and her blood in the first stage of the binding pact. "Hurry up." Nox said tiredly. "I was drained…to begin with. And now…I don't how…how much longer I…can hold…on."

As one, the four raised their hands and started to glow as the Force flowed through each of them. She knew it was coming, but it still did not prepare her for when the four powerful Force presences disappeared from her sight as they flowed through the Force and into her. The impact sent her sprawling onto her back and gasping from breath as power unlike any she'd ever held flowed through every cell in her body.

Her back arched as pain wracked her body. But as quick as the pain came, it went as the sheer amount of power within her began to heal her physical body. Her wounds sustained from fighting Azcarin were healed almost immediately. Old wounds that'd been long since healed over reopened and then healed as the Force fixed her body. The process lasted only but a second, but it felt like hours as her body acclimated to the sudden intake of power from not one, but four powerful Force presences. When at last it was over, Nox sat up quickly and looked herself over.

She felt…good. No. Good was an understatement. She felt better than she'd ever felt before in her life! Floating up to her feet, she held out her hands and summoned both her lightsaber and wand back to her hands. "I'm coming for you Vitiate." Nox grinned almost ferally as she felt untold amounts of power coursing through her.

Taking one step towards the castle, she stopped as a new sensation hit her. One of fear. Despair. Agony and then nothing. Staring up at the castle, Nox felt all the blood drain from her face. The euphoria she'd been experiencing from the sudden influx of power died as she isolated where the feelings were coming from. Or rather, from who the feelings were coming from. "Harry."

* * *

Slapping her last clip into her rifle, Jane leveled the weapon out and squeezed the trigger the moment she had a read on one of the spike-headed Death Eaters. Two shots later, one to each knee cap, and the creature was down. But even that didn't do much as it continued to try and crawl towards her. Snapping her wand out into her hand, she fired off a quick killing curse into the creatures back, ceasing it's attempts to reach her.

Hearing a low growl next to her, she spun in place readying her wand. How the spike-head managed to get so close, she wasn't sure, but by the time she got around the bastard was nearly on top of her. A spell was just about to leave her lips, when a glowing blue blade pierced through the neck of the Condemned, killing it instantly.

Nodding a quick thanks to the young Maris Brood, Jane retook her position with the Apprentice and her tonfa like lightsabers by her side. "I think that was the last of them." Maris said, as the two stared down the empty corridor filled with dead men and women Sith, witch, wizard and non-magical.

"For now." Jane remarked, checking her weapon over and doing a quick mental count of how many rounds she had left.

Casting a quick glance over her shoulder, she did a quick head count. _'Only five of us left_.' She thought, her eyes moving back down the corridor, searching for any more threats. The battle within the castle had been one of constant flux. They started out holding their ground against superior numbers and doing a hell of a job of it for a time. But then when the numbers started to threaten to overtake them, their reinforcements arrived evening out the battlefield once more. But now…now the Sith were unleashing these spike-headed bastards on them. One of her men had put it best when he compared them to zombies. Cause that was pretty much all they were. Except for the fact that they were magically resistant and usually took half a clip to put down. In fact, the only weapon that was effective against the once-human creatures seemed to be lightsabers.

"Ammo check."

"Half a clip ma'am."

"One clip."

"…Five rounds."

 _'Shit_.' She cursed, turning and handing her weapon off to the man with the least. "Make it last soldier. No one gets past us."

"Yes ma'am." The younger man nodded, taking her weapon and checking it over before casting a quick glance down the bottle neck hall they were guarding.

At the end of the hall was probably one of the most important parts of the castle now. At least in Jane's mind it was, considering that Madam Pomfrey had set up her makeshift hospital in this closed off section of the castle. During their brief and quick time setting up the castles defenders, one of Jane's first and foremost concerns had been the location of the medical wing. It was too exposed for her tastes. And too well known for that matter. It would be a primary target once the fighting started.

She'd been prepared to argue her case for moving the hospital with Madam Pomfrey when the old mediwitch surprised her by taking out her wand and summoning just about everything that wasn't nailed down within the hospital wing into a small bag which she then tucked under her arm. The witch had then calmly turned to her and stated that she knew a more secure location for the hospital and had taken off without looking back.

"More are coming." Maris Brood called out, settling down into a stance with both of her lightsabers at the ready.

"Defensive positions." Jane called out, falling back with her men to what little cover was available to them while keeping a tight hold on her wand.

"Wait." Maris called out, holding up her hand. "This presence…it's…hold your fire! They're friendlies."

Just as the words left her, three figures skidded around the corner coming down from the staircase next to them. "Fucking hell." Jane breathed as she lowered her wand, motioning for her few remaining men to do the same. "You three are lucking you're not swiss fucking cheese right now."

Across from her; Ron, Tracey and Hannah all looked half-shocked and half-scared shitless as they found themselves staring down at a proverbial firing squad. "You didn't keep your senses open." Maris said, shaking her head. "You have to keep focused, especially during a battle or you will be killed."

The three shared a quick look with one another, but whatever they were about to say was cut off as Jane stepped forward. "Lesson for another day." She said, standing in front of the three. "Did you three complete your mission?"

"Yes ma'am." Tracey nodded. "Where's Master Nox? We need to get it to her now."

"Last we heard, her shuttle landed in the courtyard." Maris answered. "But that was some time ago…who knows where she is now."

"Then let's see if someone does know where she is." Jane said, bringing her comm link up.

Maris's eyes went wide as she suddenly spun around in a tight circle and tackled Jane to the ground. "Look out!"

The hall erupted into pandemonium as the glass windows near them shattered and dozens of black clouds descended upon them. "Fuck!" Jane shouted, rolling up to her feet and bringing her wand around to fire off a cutting curse at point blank range right into the chest of one of the newly arrived spike-heads. "Form up! Defensive positions now!"

Any hope of holding a line was lost as the spike-heads swarmed over Jane, the Guardians and the few men she had left. There were simply too many and her voice was lost in a sea of shouts, gunfire, lightsabers and spells. But strangely enough, despite having the advantage, these ones were not pressing towards the infirmary. It was only as five managed to separate Tracey off from the others that it finally clicked in Jane's head. "They're after the horcrux!" She shouted, letting lose a blasting curse into the chest of one spike-head and sending him into another. "Everyone! Rally around Tracey! We can't-"

Tracey screamed as one spike-head impaled itself on her lightsaber, allowing a second to get within her guard and thrust a crude dagger into her stomach. The next few moments almost seemed to pass in slow motion as Tracey's wide eyes stared at the spike-head that'd impaled her. Instead of twisting the dagger, the creature let it go and began rummaging around inside her robes. The creature gave off a inhuman growl and then it took off down the hall like a bullet with five others, leaving an impaled Tracey to fall limply to the floor.

"Tracey!" Ron screamed, his voice laced with the Force as he slashed through the few remaining Condemned to get to the fallen girl.

Racing up to her side, Jane stopped Ron just as he was about to pull the dagger out of her. "Stop." She said, placing her hand atop of his. "Those daggers are usually serrated. It's designed to do a lot more damage on the way out. We need to leave it be for now and get her down the hall to Madam Pomfrey. Understand me Apprentice?"

Ron stared at her like he wanted to argue, but Jane just stared him down with the same look that'd cowed numerous insubordinate soldiers in the past. "Lieutenant." Tracey gasped, breaking drawing Jane's attention to the girl.

"Don't talk." Jane said, looking down at the dagger. "You'll be fine."

Shaking her head, Tracey's eyes stared to tear up from the pain. "No…the horcrux…they…have it."

The world stopped. The horcrux. The last item keeping Voldemort mortal. Was now in the hands of the Condemned. The enslaved foot soldiers of the New Sith. "Maris." Jane said, whipping around. "You're the fastest. Intercept those five now! We can't let them get back to the Emperor. Hannah, you go with her as well."

"Yes ma'am!" Maris acknowledge before taking off like a shot with Hannah only a pace behind her.

Rising to her feet, Jane glanced around the hall. Two more of her men had died in the attack, leaving only one man left still standing from her original squad. "Gather their ammo." She ordered her last remaining troop before turning on Ron. "Get her to the infirmary and then come back out here with me. We need to guard this spot no matter the cost."

* * *

Redirecting a cutting curse with his lightsaber, Harry reached out and sent a powerful Force push at the caster, sending the man sprawling backwards ass over teakettle into a stone column with enough force to knock lose two of the foot-square bricks. Then, without hesitation, he turned and threw his lightsaber. His purple-black blade spun through the air over the head of Master Secura and into the chest of the assailant that'd been trying to sneak up on her before he recalled the blade with a Force pull.

"My thanks, Knight Potter." Master Secura said as the two stood back to back against the oncoming Death Eaters.

"Any time, Master Secura." Harry responded as he deftly deflected two cutting curses away from himself and the twi'lek.

The fighting in the courtyard had died down significantly since the arrival of the Satele Shan and their reinforcements. Several of the Death Eaters had taken one look at the giant cruiser, seen the destruction it brought when it annulated the acromantula, and then promptly fled the battle. Those that weren't magical had taken to a defensive strategy and had dug themselves in as they realized that they no longer had the numbers to attack, but were unable to escape as well. The only truly still offensive measure the Sith had were the few giants that were still lumbering around the courtyard. But even then, there were only two of them left.

Even as the thought was in his head, one of the giants roared in agony as Commander Gregor rolled between the giant's legs while firing his blaster upwards between its legs. And while its mouth was still open, General Rex finished the creature off with a single shot from his blaster pistol that went right through the roof of the giant's mouth and out the back of its head.

Seeing the opportunity to turn the tide completely in their favor, Harry apparated, appearing in the air just above the last remaining giant. Reversing his grip on his lightsaber, Harry brought his blade down, piercing the back of the giant's neck as he fell. The giant roared in agony as it started to thrash about, its arms reaching back trying to get at Harry.

Leaving his lightsaber embedded in its neck, Harry leapt over the giant's head and landed gracefully on his feet in front of the giant. Turning in place, Harry snapped out his wand and sent a powerful blasting curse through the giant's open mouth. The beast immediately stopped thrashing, its eyes rolling back up into its head as it fell forward and crashed into the ground. Walking up to the dead giant, Harry pulled his lightsaber out of the giant's flesh.

"Nicely done Knight Potter." Master Secura said, walking up next to him, her lightsaber still active and her eyes scanning the yard.

"Thank you Master." Harry nodded, turning around and ready to face off against the next threat.

Only to see that the courtyard was nearly completely devoid of Sith forces. Virtually everybody that was still upright in the yard belonged to Guardian forces. There were still a few stragglers fighting…but for the most part the courtyard was completely clear of enemies. Deactivating his lightsaber, Harry stood up to his full height as Master Secura approached him. "Okay," he said, looking around. "Um, you're the experienced one here Master Secura. What do we do now?"

Pursing her lips, Aayla looked around. "This is not all of them. The presence of the cruiser must've made the Emperor pull his forces back for the moment to reevaluate his plan. Not to mention, there are still those within the castle that need to be dealt with. We best use this time the Emperor has given us to drive out the stragglers and prepare for his next wave of attack."

Nodding his head, Harry could see the logic in what she said. "Yes ma'am. After you."

The two managed to take two steps towards the entrance of the castle when a heavy weight from the force fell upon their shoulders. Stopping, Harry whipped around and stared up into the night sky. "He's here."

The words had barely managed to leave him when a black cloud slammed into the ground, sending a slight shockwave through the small courtyard making Harry and Aayla reflexively cover their eyes for a moment to keep the dust from blinding them. When Harry lowered his arm, he felt his heart thumb in his chest. Standing just before them tall and proud was Voldemort. Only, it wasn't him. Voldemort's normal red eyes were gone, replaced by a deep yellow that indicated that the Emperor was in fact in control.

But it wasn't his sudden appearance that caused Harry's heart to race…it was his presence. Unlike when he'd briefly caught a glimpse of the Emperor back during the assault of Azkaban, the presence of the one before them was almost unbearable to stand before. Unbidden, sweat began to form on Harry's brow as he and Master Secura stood before the Emperor. _'What the fuck?' Harry cursed, fighting the urge to wipe at his brow. 'Even just standing before the Emperor right now is taxing. How?'_

A single gunshot rang out through the courtyard, and Voldemort was forced to take a step back to avoid the blaster bolt that passed uselessly just in front of him. Without taking his eyes off Harry, Voldemort raised his hand and sent a single bolt of Force lighting towards the one who fired the shot. The man who fired the shot didn't even managed to get out a single cry as the bolt completely disintegrated him where he stood.

"Everyone fall back!" Harry shouted, igniting his lightsaber. "We'll handle him! Secure the castle now!"

Their men in the courtyard didn't hesitate to follow his order as they all began to systematically fall back into the castle. The only one who hesitated was Commander Gregor, but a sharp look from Master Secura sent the clone Commando back into the castle with the rest of their men.

As the courtyard rapidly emptied, Voldemort merely stood there watching impassively. When finally, it was just the three of the them, Voldemort spoke, but it was the Emperor's Voice that passed through his lips. **"Amusing."** Vitiate said flatly. **"You think to defeat me with only the two of you? While both of you are impressive…neither of you are close to my equal."**

Feeling a shift in the Force, Harry let a slight smile cross his lips. "Who ever said that it would just be the two of us?"

Two soft thuds landing behind Harry announced the arrival of Kento and Mallie Marek. And then a second later there were two more soft landings announcing the arrival of Ahsoka and Ginny. Despite now being outnumbered, Vitiate just continued to look at the six of them impassionedly. **"Three Masters."** He said. **"Two Knights. And one Apprentice. Six on one might've evened your odds in your feeble mind. But even if you threw every Jedi on this planet against me, it still wouldn't be enough boy."**

"We'll just have to see about that." Harry responded, taking out his wand and firing off a single flare spell above his head.

Vitiate didn't even react outside of watching the flare travel skywards for a moment. **"Your aim leave's much to be desired boy."** Vitiate said with a slight amount of amusement seeping into his voice.

Smirking, Harry lowered his wand. "Whoever said that that spell was meant for you?"

* * *

Seeing the signal rise from the castle courtyard, Quinlan turned back towards Asajj. "That's the signal babe. Let's do this."

Turning back towards the three-meter tall spire, one of five the two had spread out around Hogwarts, Quinlan and Asajj both raised their hands and pressed their palms against its cool stone surface. Closing his eyes, Quinlan drew deeply on the Force, letting it flow through him as he acted as a conduit between the Living Force and the spire. Time lost meaning as the Force flooded through him, his vision blurred until he could see nothing besides glowing spire right in front of him. And as quick as the sensation came, it went as the spire pulsed and he was physically pushed back, breaking his contact with the stone.

"Damn." He muttered, whipping at the sweat upon his brow, feeling like he'd just done a marathon run through the ground layer of Kashyyyk.

"That is…an elegant way of putting it." Asajj nodded, looking just as exhausted as he felt if not more so.

Grabbing a vial from his belt, Quinlan popped the top off it before draining the contents down his throat. "Holy shit." He muttered as the potion, which Nox called a 'pepper-up' potion, worked its way down.

He didn't know what was in this potion, and given that he'd read a few of the potion books he didn't really want to know. But whatever it was it worked. With one small vial he felt like he'd just woken up from a solid eight-hour rest cycle and downed and entire pot of java. To his right, Asajj was polishing off her own vial, her face immediately regaining most of its normal coloring even before she lowered the vial from her lips. "Damn…this shit is good." Asajj smiled as she tossed the vial over her shoulder. "Well old man, think you can keep up with me? Or do I need to call a transport for you?"

Giving his lover a lopsided grin, Quinlan cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. "I'll race you there luv."

Returning his smirk, Asajj turned towards the forest. "Just try not to stare too hard at my ass while we're running. Don't want you trip over something and force me to stop to help you up."

* * *

Feeling the barrier snap into place, Harry let a small smile grace his lips as he faced off against the Emperor. "You're not going anywhere."

If the Emperor, or Voldemort, was unsettled by the development, they did a fine job of hiding it **. "I see."** The Emperor's smooth voice intoned as he stared upwards at the night sky. **"So, this was Nox's plan. Destroy Voldemort's horcruxes and then trap him so he couldn't flee so you can kill him. How remarkably…dull. I expected more from her."**

Taking a step forward, Harry leveled his lightsaber towards the Emperor. "A plan doesn't have to be fancy or complicated to work."

 **"Quite."** The Emperor nodded before tilting his head slightly. **"You think that you've won. That this…trap is the end for me." Shaking his head, the Emperor took a few steps forwards, making all the Guardian's present ready their lightsabers and wands. "Let me dispel that belief. It is not I who is trapped here. No. You are all trapped here with me."**

"We'll see about that." Harry growled before taking off like a shot towards the Emperor.

He'd barely managed to cross half the distance between the two when the Emperor raised his hand. Raising his lightsaber, Harry readied himself to deflect the oncoming Force lightning he knew was coming while behind him, Ginny and Ahsoka readied themselves to jump over him and ambush Vitiate. However, instead of a single bolt of lightning…the Emperor sent a proverbial tidal wave of Force lightning at him. Skidding to a stop, Harry whipped out his wand and shouted a barrier spell at the top of his lungs with Ginny and Ahsoka joining him a split second later.

The wave of lightning washed over the three of them and brushed aside their hastily risen barriers as if they weren't even there. During his training, Harry had been on the receiving end of his mother's Force lightning more than once. And it always put him down quickly, especially when she put something behind it. But this…this was something else completely. The moment the lightning destroyed his barrier, every nerve within his body became inflamed as pain unlike any he'd ever known before wracked every inch of his body. He wasn't even aware he'd been airborne until his back impacted something hard and he fell limply to the ground with Ashoka and Ginny on either side of him.

 **"Pathetic."**

Rolling onto his side, Harry managed to get up to one knee, his body still throbbing as the aftereffects of the Force lightning still coursed through his body. Across the field, he watched as Vitiate engage Aayla, Kento and Mallie with an almost bored expression on his face. Each of the Masters were ducking, rolling and slashing with their lightsabers and lashing out with the Force, but Vitiate didn't even move an inch despite their onslaught. He hadn't even drawn his lightsaber, preferring instead to block each attack, be it by lightsaber or through the Force, with his bare hand.

 _'How_?' Harry breathed, rising to his feet and shaking off the last remnants of the Emperor's attack. _'How is he so powerful now? He wasn't this strong before, was he?'_

Drawing his lightsaber again, Harry ran across the courtyard while the Emperor's back was turned and brought his lightsaber down hard in an overhead attack. The Emperor merely raised his hand, and Harry felt his entire body freeze when his lightsaber was still a good foot away from the Emperor's back. **"You don't understand it, do you boy?"** The Emperor asked as he swept aside Kento and Mallie with a wave of his hand as they tried to come to his aid. **"Well then, let me explain. And do listen closely boy, I do not like repeating myself. When Nox destroyed the portion of my power that was locked away in that tomb I was greatly weakened. And I was weak. But now, my creations have had ample time to feast and regenerate my power. And now…now none of you stand a chance against me."**

Harry felt his body squeeze as the Emperor closed his fist, tightening his hold on him. "Let him go!"

Turning his head as much as possible, Harry saw Ahsoka running towards them as fast as she could, her green lightsaber out and a look of pure fury across her face. Harry wanted to scream out to her, to tell her to stop, but his jaw wouldn't move, and the words wouldn't leave his lips. And just like him, once she was within reach of the Emperor he simply raised his hand and encased her in the Force to hold her still.

 **"Your fury is something to behold my dear."** The Emperor said with something almost akin to pleasure in his voice. **"But while your attachment to this boy gives you power…it is also your greatest weakness."**

The Emperor's hand opened, and Harry was powerless to do anything but watch as Ahsoka was sent flying away from the both of them and across the courtyard into the wall of the castle. "Ahsoka…" Harry breathed as he stared at her prone form. "You…son of a bitch!"

There was a thunderous crash that stopped everyone in the courtyard as they covered their ears. The windows of the castle shattered as the binds that'd been holding Harry in place dissipated and his feet touched back down. Around the two of them, dust began to swirl around the two of them, separating Harry and Voldemort from the everyone else in the courtyard as they were either forced to take a step back, or be forced back by the swirling winds.

Turning around towards him, Vitiate stared at him curiously. **"Interesting."** The Emperor spoke taking a step towards Harry despite the cyclone being created around them. **"Your power is…remarkable. But at your level…you shouldn't be able to manifest the Force as you are now. No doubt the knowledge that was given to you by the Celestial is what is allowing you to do this. But I wonder…how long will you be able to hold this up. Already the strain is starting to show. You are not ready to wield this type of power boy."**

"I can keep this up all day!" Harry shouted defiantly, lying through his teeth. Holding up the storm was more taxing than he could've imagined. Part of his mind told him to just let it die…but another part of him wouldn't let him. ' _He hurt Ahsoka! He needs to pay!'_

Forcing himself to stand as straight as possible, Harry tried focusing the storm in on Vitiate. The winds around them tightened around the two of them, making Vitiate stop in his tracks as the pressure from the storm forced him to stop. **"Tell me Harry, do you wish revenge for what Riddle did to your parents? If so, then I can help you accomplish this. And I will gladly do so."**

The storm faltered ever so slightly around the two of them. "What?"

Vitiate's lips curled upwards. **"I said Harry, that I will let you take your revenge on Riddle. No tricks. No deals. Nothing. I will let you kill him here and now."**

The storm separating the two of them from the rest of the world died as quickly as it came as Harry's concentration broke. Almost as soon as the storm died, Harry felt invisible binds grab hold of him, snapping his arms to his side and lifting him up off the ground. At the same time, a blue opaque sphere encompassed the two of them.

The bonds that kept Harry attached to his mother, Ginny and Ahsoka all dimmed to the point of nonexistence as the barrier settled. And just beyond the shield, Harry watched as Master Secura stepped up to it. Her eyes passed over the shield once before she experimentally touched the barrier with her lightsaber only for it to have no effect at all. Just behind her, Ginny was making a beeline for him, only to be stopped as Master Secura turned around and grabbed his petite apprentice around the middle preventing her from touching the barrier.

 **"The twi'lek is smarter than she looks. This barrier is a variant of a ray shield. Had your young, impulsive apprentice touched it, she would've died on the spot."** The Emperor said calmly as he stepped closer. **"They cannot hear you Harry. Nor can they reach you. It is just you and now. And before you think that I tricked you, I have not. I meant every word I said. You wish to kill Riddle, of that there is no doubt. Who would not want to avenge the death of his parents. And I fully intend for you to do so."**

"Why?" Harry asked despite himself. "Riddle is your servant. Why would you let me kill him?"

The binds holding him in place loosened and Harry felt his feet touch back down but he still couldn't move. **"Because he has failed me I more ways than you can possibly imagine Harry. And if your mother has done proper job in educating you, you know the price of failure."** Stopping less than a pace away from Harry, Vitiate stared at Harry appraisingly. **"I can sense your doubt. And I can understand it. Perhaps this will convince you otherwise."**

A commotion coming from the entrance of the castle drew his attention. Three of the Condemned were running towards the barrier, completely ignoring everyone around them. Ginny and Aayla moved intercept the three, but two of them split off to divert them, allowing the third to continue. When it reached the barrier, to Harry's confusion, it didn't stop. What had once been a man ran straight through the blue shield as if it wasn't even there. It managed to take two steps after it passed through before falling forward onto its face.

 **"They are useful tools."** Vitiate commented calmly as he walked over towards the corpse.

Raising his hand, a small black bag floated up out of the dead Condemned hand and up into Vitiates. Harry felt his stomach plummet as he recognized the black pouch as the one of the ones given to Ron, Tracey and Hannah to contain the Horcrux after they found it. Opening the pouch, Vitiate extracted a jewel encrusted diadem from within before turning back to Harry.

 **"The last of Riddle's horcruxes."** Vitiate said calmly as he stepped towards Harry once more. **"Without this, Riddle will be mortal once again."** And then without any preamble, Vitiate closed his fist around the diadem, wrenching an unearthly scream from the object as a black mist was forced out of it. Harry could just vaguely make out the image of Voldemort within the mist, the apparition screaming out in agony before it disappeared forever.

The binds that'd been holding him in place disappeared completely and Harry immediately brought his lightsaber to bear. **"That's it Harry."** Vitiate said calmly, taking another step towards him until the tip of Harry's lightsaber was less than an inch away from his chest. **"Take your vengeance. And while I know you can't hear him…Riddle is screaming inside the cage I put him in. But there is nothing he can to stop you Harry. Avenge your parents Harry. End his miserable existence once and for all."**

Harry's hand was almost shaking as he stared down at the tip of his lightsaber hovering just over Riddle's heart. All he needed to do was move his blade forward two inches…and he would avenge his parents. And why shouldn't he? This…this was the moment he'd been training his entire life for. The chance to kill his parents murder. And now here it was…on a silver fucking plater. So why…why was he hesitating. He should just do it. Finish Riddle here and now and be–

 _'Harry! Don't! You can't kill him yet! Vitiate will just disappear if you do! And that's exactly what he wants! Don't give the bastard what he wants Harry!''_

Ahsoka's voice cut through him like a knife. Looking down, he realized he'd begun involuntarily moving forward, his black-purple blade lightly scorching Voldemort's robes. "No!" Harry shouted, jumping back away from Vitiate. "I won't give you what you want Vitiate."

Vitiate's yellow eyes, once filled with compassion, turned to pair of burning infernos of anger. **"Idiot boy."** Vitiate spat, his lightsaber snapping down into his hand. **"If you had simply done as I bid, then this would've been so much easier. But now, I fear you will have to suffer for your insolence!"**

Preparing himself for the attack he knew was coming, Harry raised his lightsaber into a defensive stance. "It wouldn't be the first time." Harry shot back with a grin. "Do your worst jackass."

Vitiate's lips curled upwards into a cruel smile. **"Oh, I intend too."** Vitiate's lightsaber came around and Harry moved to intercept it, only to have the blade miss him entirely and – imbed itself into Riddle's chest.

Harry could do little more than stare dumbfounded as Vitiate's yellow eyes faded and were replaced by Riddle's blood red eyes. Voldemort stared down at the lightsaber in his chest dumbly as if he couldn't believe what'd just happened. "No." Riddle gasped, the lightsaber deactivating and falling away as the Dark Lord fell to his knees. "My…Emperor this…this was my…my destiny…not…his…"

Harry watched as his most hated enemy fell onto his face, dead. _'Shit_.' Harry cursed, staring down at the fallen Dark Lord. _'He wasn't supposed to die yet! Now we have no idea just where Vitiate will disappear t-'_

Harry clasped both hands to his head as something slammed into his mental shields like a battering ram tearing through paper. His mind felt like it was on fire as he fell to his knees, screaming in agony. He could vaguely hear Ahsoka screaming as well, but her voice in his mind was rapidly growing faint. _'Oh, foolish boy. I have no intention of disappearing just yet.'_

* * *

Apparating into existence, Nox stared at the scene in front of her in horror. All the Guardian forces within the yard were all down on the ground, wounded or dead. The only ones who were still on their feet were Ginny and Aayla, who were standing before a blue semi-opaque half sphere which dominated over half of the yard. Stepping up to the half-sphere, Nox felt what little blood was left in her face drain away as she stared at the scene within. Riddle was dead. A wound from a lightsaber right over where his heart was. And Harry, her son, was on his hands and knees, his entire body shaking.

Reaching out, she tried to sense her son. But there was nothing. It was as if the bond that'd been between them had disappeared and replaced with an endless void. Raising her hand, Nox hovered her palm just above the blue barrier. ' _A ray shield of some sort. Powerful, but not enough.'_ She thought before narrowing her eyes in concentration and destroying the barrier with a single thought.

Even with the barrier down, there was no reaction from Harry as her son remained bent over on his hands and knees. Approaching Harry slowly, Nox frowned at the feeling of…wrongness wafting off him. "Harry?"

It was only because of her deep connection to the Force that Nox was able to slide back far enough to avoid the purple-black blade of her son's lightsaber. **"Your skills are indeed as sharp as ever Nox. It's no wonder you managed to defeat my Wrath."**

Nox froze. She knew that voice. And it didn't belong to her son. Looking up slowly, Nox was met son's eyes. And to her horror, she found Harry's bright green and black eyes replaced by ones that were deep yellow and cold as ice. "Vitiate." Nox growled. "You son of a bitch. How dare you try and take over my son!"

Seeing the twisted smile that came over Harry's face tore at her heart. **"It was quite easy actually."** Vitate's voice spoke out from her son's lips. **"The boy had some decent mental barriers. But nothing that I couldn't tear down. And now, he has retreated deep into his mind and is hiding like a coward."**

Her anger flared as she heard her son spoken of so. But before she could do anything rash, she forced herself to stay in place. "My son is no coward Vitiate. If he has retreated into the recesses of his mind, it is to protect the knowledge that was granted to him by the Father. Which is exactly why you wanted Harry isn't it? How does it feel, knowing that you're being bested by my son?"

The corner of her son's eye twitched ever so slightly. **"It matters not."** Vitiate said dismissively. **"Be it today, tomorrow or ten years from now, I will erode what is left of your son. And the knowledge that had been bestowed upon him shall be mine. And then there will be none in the galaxy that will be able to challenge me."**

"I think that you're underestimating my son Vitiate." Nox responded with a coy smile. "Just like you did with Aedan all those year ago. How many times did he kick your ass again?"

 **"Enough!"** Vitiate shouted, causing a mild shockwave to pass through the yard as the Force traveled through his voice. Raising his arm, Vitiate leveled Harry's lightsaber at her. **"I will not stand here and be critiqued by a child who lacks the will to do what is necessary to obtain true power. Hm. I suppose this is a fitting end for you Nox. Being killed by your own son and apprentice. How poetic. The Apprentice shall become the Master, and so shall the cycle continue on."**

Seeing movement out of the corner of her eye, Nox subtly motioned with her hand for everyone to stay back for the moment. "Your overconfidence is your greatest weakness Vitiate." She said, keeping her attention solely on the Sith Lord in front of her.

One of Harry's eyebrows rose. **"My overconfidence?"** Vitiate asked curiously. **"Perhaps it is your own overconfidence that must be taken into consideration Nox. You cannot best me even if you had a thousand years to ready yourself."**

"It is not Master Nox that you are underestimating." Ahsoka called out, limping up so that she was standing next to Nox with one hand holding her side. "It's Harry. He's far more powerful than you can possible imagine Sith. And he won't let you hurt Nox or myself."

 **"Is that so?"** Vitiate asked, smirking. **"Well then…let's put your theory to the test then creature!"**

Harry shot towards the two of like a bullet. His lightsaber raised and ready to cut them both down with a single strike. But despite it all, Nox and Ahsoka held their ground, defenseless. Just as Harry's lightsaber started to come around, his entire body froze as if he'd been struck by a paralysis spell. **"What?"** Vitiate gasped, staring down at Harry's body, which was refusing to move. **"How?"**

"No matter how far you try to bury him, we will always be able to find him." Ahsoka answered as Ginny limped up beside her.

"I never really understood just what that whole part of the prophecy meant when it referred to us girls as Harry's wings." Ginny said as she stood tall beside Ahsoka. "But now I do. All of us have a connection to Harry in some form or another. Some more powerful than others, but nonetheless important. And through our bonds, we can reach Harry and uplift him from whatever darkness you've put him in."

* * *

Tightening the knot of cloth around Luna's arm, Daphne stared at her apprentice in the face as she winced slightly. The wound wasn't the worst that Daphne had seen, but the cutting curse had certainly done a number on her and in an effort to conserve energy, Luna had told her to simply bandage it off. Just as she was finishing, Daphne felt the Force lurch like a punch to the gut. "What the…" She gasped, whirling around in the direction the sensation came from. "That…what the…"

"It's Harry." Lune said, her eyes far away from where they were. "He…he needs his wings. He needs us to help him fly out of the darkness."

"What?" Daphne asked, turning back to Luna.

Luna's hands grabbed hold of her own as her eyes closed. "Just…reach out and hold onto Harry. This is our part Daphne. We need to help him or he will fall."

Deciding to place her faith in her apprentice, Daphne cast the most power barrier she could manage around the two of them, closed her eyes. And reached out for her friend through the Force. 'Hold on to us Harry.'

* * *

Standing next to Hermione, Susan watched as her apprentice calmly conjured a white sheet and carefully draped it over the still form of Viktor Krum. The two had been fighting within the castle when Hermione suddenly stopped and ran to the nearest window just in time to watch the large dragon explode and fall to the ground. And then without another word, Hermione turned around and started running deeper into the castle, leaving Susan struggling to catch up as she trailed behind her apprentice.

But no matter what she did or said, Hermione didn't stop until the two came to the library. The library was a disaster. Bookshelves were knocked over, desks overturned, and books lay everywhere. And in the center of the room lay the reason why Hermione had taken off. Viktor Krum lay in the center of the room, his limbs twisted at odd angles from splinching and well over half of his body was blackened from burns. Hermione gave off a cry and ran to her boyfriend's side, cradling his head as her wand started moving over his body frantically, trying to heal whatever injuries she could.

As Susan moved up beside them, she closed her eyes and let out a breath. Viktor's chest wasn't moving. And his presence in the Force was gone. "Hermione." She said, kneeling next to her frantic apprentice. "He's gone."

"No…" Hermione mumbled, her wand falling out of her grip as she bent over Viktor. "No…he can't…he can't be gone! He…he promised me! He promised me!"

Susan didn't know what to say or do. None of her training, be with the Guardians or with her aunt, had prepared her for how to deal with a situation like this. So, she did what she could and simply knelt next to Hermione and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry Hermione."

Hermione didn't say anything in response, preferring instead to remain prone over Viktor's still form. After a solid minute, Susan stood back up and retreated towards the entrance and started casting several wards on the entrance to try and give Hermione the time she needed to grieve. But after nearly half an hour now, Susan knew that time was no longer on their side. "Hermione," she said softly approaching her apprentice. "It's time for us to go. We can't linger here any longer."

Stifling a sniff, Hermione nodded and after laying her hand on Viktor one last time, rose to her feet. "You're right Master." Hermione nodded, her voice firm despite the tears falling down her face. "We have a job to finish."

"That we do." Susan agreed, taking a turn to head out of the library.

She made it only a single step before she doubled over as the Force lurched. Beside her, she heard Hermione gasp and knew that her apprentice was feeling the exact same thing as her. "What…" Hermione breathed, clutching at her middle. "What is…what's going on?"

"It's Harry." Susan answered, although she wasn't quite sure just how she knew it. "He…he needs us."

"What?" Hermione gasped, her head shooting around towards her.

Closing her eyes, Susan reached out through the Force and felt along the faint bond she shared with Harry. But Harry's presence was…muted. Almost to the point of being non-existent. But even still, she could feel Luna, Daphne, Ginny and even Ahsoka reaching through the Force towards the muted presence of Harry. "Close your eyes." Susan said, not bothering to open her own as she tried to feel her way towards Harry using the others as a guide. "Reach out and look for Harry. We have to guide him out of whatever darkness has claimed him."

* * *

Standing side by side with Ginny and Ahsoka, Nox watched on in no small amount of satisfaction as Harry's face twisted in displeasure. **"You think this will be enough?"** Vitiate asked. **"This boy's power, these girls' powers. They will not be enough! I am eternal. I have touched aspects of the Force that not even you have dreamed of Nox. These seven stand no chance against me in a battle of wills."**

Smirking, Nox reached into her robes and grabbed hold of the small bottomless pouch she kept on her. "Then let's even the playing field."

Reaching into the pouch, Nox pulled out a silvery cloak. Harry's eyes widened as the Emperor renewed his struggles. Without a word of explanation, Nox used the Force to levitate the cloak in front of her, and destroyed it along with Vitiate's soul shard.

An ear-piercing cry of agony left Harry as his body struggled against the invisible binds. **"You…"** Vitiate growled, his yellow eyes narrowing at her. **"No good slave bi-"** Nox cut him off as she pulled out the stone from the pouch and destroyed the object before the Emperor, causing another cry of agony to leave her son. **"Your son feels this agony Nox!"**

Nox's hand froze as she began reaching for the wand. Vitiate, seeing her hesitation, smirked at her. **"Those cries you are causing, they are not my own. But those of your son! Each one you destroy, I redirect the pain to your son! You should hear him now. The pain is worse than any torture you could possibly imagine. And I make him feel it ten times over for each one you destroy! You continue on…and your son's essence will vanish under the pain I'm putting him through!"**

Pulling out the wand slowly, Nox carefully levitated the object in front of her. "My son is strong." She said, meeting Vitiate's golden eyes. "Stronger than I. And stronger than you. He can more than handle anything you could possibly throw at him!" And with that, Nox destroyed and third, and last, of the Sith Emperor's soul anchors.

With the last of his anchors destroyed, her son's head snapped back as the Emperor let lose a cry of rage. The very air around them grew thick as the dark side of the Force began to swirl around them so thickly Nox could almost reach out and touch it. **"You shouldn't have done that Nox."** Vitiate said, his voice returning to his normal calm. **"Now…If I go. I will be taking your son with me to the Void."**

"No." Nox said, shaking her head as she stepped towards Harry until barely and arm's length separated the two of them. "You won't Vitiate. I won't let you drag my son down with you!"

Placing the palm of her hand against Harry's forehead, Nox delved deep into the Force as she focused on the connection she shared with her son. Trying to isolate his presence away from the Emperor within him. Beneath her hand, Harry smiled cockily. **"What are you attempting Nox?"** Vitiate asked as she felt the Emperor repel her attempts to find her son. **"Ah, you're trying to isolate your son from me so you can hope to dissolve my essence while leaving his intact. A sound plan, but flawed, just like you Nox. Even with those girls holding onto your son through the Force, and even though you have weakened me considerably, you still lack the power to separate the two of us. Let alone to banish me."**

Pushing harder against the Emperor, Nox let a small smile cross her as she felt a ripple in the Force. "Whoever said that I was alone in this endeavor Vitiate?"

A second hand, this one gloved and ethereal, appeared atop her own. Harry's eyes snapped up and glared as the ghostly figure solidified next to her. **"Revan."** Vitiate hissed as he stared at the force ghost. **"Impossible. You could not have bypassed the shroud so easily."**

"I didn't. At least not easily." Revan responded. "But your attention has been divided and your shroud weakened. And together we were able to bypass your shroud. And with Nox's help we were able to ensure our continued presence here."

One of Harry's eyebrow's twitched **. "We?"**

"You didn't think that Revan was alone in his desire to rid the galaxy of your stain, did you?" Nox asked as Ashara's hand joined Revan's. Which was soon followed by a third and fourth as Satale and Marr both appeared as well.

 **"Marr."** Vitiate hissed. **"Again, you dare to betray me!"**

The towering form of Darth Marr turned towards the Emperor. "I told you long ago Vitiate. I will never kneel before you again."

With the aid of the four Force ghosts, Nox was able to delve deeper into the Force than she ever thought possible. In no time at all, she was able to discern between her son and Vitiate and forcibly separate the two of them apart. A surge of victory went through her as she isolated Vitiate. "It's over Vitiate."

Nox could feel Vitiate struggling in vain through the Force as he tried to battle against not only her, Revan, Satele, Marr and Ashara, but Harry and the girls as well. **"You think you've won Nox?"** Vitiate asked. **"You haven't. Everything you build will one day come crashing down. Because you lack the will, the power and the drive to truly seek what should be yours!"**

"Perhaps." Nox nodded as she put more pressure on the Emperor. "But you will not be here to see it!"

Pushing even harder, Nox pulled on every ounce of power she had. She could feel Vitiate's essence fracturing beneath the onslaught as she pushed harder and harder. And then it happened. His essence broke. And Nox felt her feet leave the ground as light blinded her and then she knew only darkness.

* * *

Standing on the bridge of the Satale Shan, Admiral Hackett watched as hundreds of dark cloaked shapes floated through the air, heading towards both the castle below and his ship. "Jones." Hackett called out, startling the crewwoman that was working at a terminal near him.

"Y-yes Admiral?"

"You're a witch are you not?" Hackett asked, not taking his eyes off the dementors that were starting to circle the ship.

"Um – yes sir."

"You know the counter spell to ward of these creatures, don't you?" He asked as the dementors began landing on his ship.

"The Patronus Charm?" The witch half asked, and half stated. "Ye – yes sir I do. But I –"

"Good." He said, turning towards her. "Cast you spell now Jones. Or everyone onboard will soon be soulless walking corpses."

The young woman looked scared shitless, but she nodded and drew her wand. "Admiral…might wanna hang on to that thought a second."

Turning his attention back towards the front of the ship, he stared at their pilot. "What is it Moreau?"

The helmsmen didn't say anything as he nodded towards the forward viewport. Walking up to the helmsmen, Hackett stared out the port. As he did, his eyes went wide. The dementors were…disintegrating. "Ensign!" He shouted, "I want a report from the surface now!"

"Report is just coming in sir!" One of the crewmen responded. "They…they did it! The Emperor…he's gone!"

"Confirming report from Master Secura! The Emperor has been destroyed! And Master Nox is alive…but she's requesting shuttle to bought down immediately for the wounded."

"Admiral, report from Blade squadron, the dementors, all of them…they're all disappearing!"

"Report from the surface Admiral! Master Vos reports that the remnants of the Sith forces are in full retreat!"

For the first time in what felt like a long time, Hackett let a smile cross his face as he watched dementor after dementor freeze up and disappeared. _'She did it. She actually fucking did it.'_


	27. Chapter 27

**Well everyone, here we are! Finally, at long last the epilogue. Hope that you all enjoy and please read the A/N at the end of the chapter. Hope you all enjoy!**

 **Chapter 27**

Sitting in his office, nursing his wounds, Dumbledore felt every one of his nearly one-hundred and thirty years weighing down on him like a lead weight he was unable to shake. For over fifty years he'd been carrying the Death Stick. And for fifty years he failed to realize just what it's true significance was. For sure he knew that it was one of the three Deathly Hallows, but he was blinded by legend and failed to see the true evil behind the wand. It wasn't a mythical powerful object; it was a horcrux for the greatest dark entity to ever curse the surface of Earth. And he'd been in possession for it for over half a century!

Hearing a soft cooing and a light nudge on his hand, Dumbledore absentmindedly began to scratch his familiars head. "For over half a century Fawkes," He said to his phoenix. "I carried that accursed wand for over half a century and never even realized just what it was. But you my friend…you knew. You always tried to take it away from me whenever you could. I should've have listened to you my friend…I should've listened to my instincts. I should've listened to Gellert when he told me after our duel to destroy the wand at all costs. But I didn't. In my hubris…I ignored you all. I failed."

"Failure. The greatest and harshest mentor, it is."

Sighing, Dumbledore made a quick glimpse out of the corner of his eye. Sitting peacefully on the balcony railing was a small green creature reminiscent of a goblin cross breaded with a house elf. He briefly wondered why he hadn't sensed the little beings approach, but than a quick mental scan, which was thoroughly rebuked, answered that question. The little being was powerful. Incredibly powerful. And given that he had never seen anything like him before, there was no doubt as to how he'd arrived. Yet, despite the being's sudden and unexpected appearance, Dumbledore wasn't afraid. He was ready.

"Yes…it is," Dumbledore nodded, agreeing with the little being. "And just when I thought I'd learned from my failures…I ended up repeating them again and again. And with each successive failure…the fallout grew exponentially. And now…here we are. At the end of the road I guess."

"End?" The little green creature asked, one of its eyebrows rising. "No. This is not the end. Not for you. Not for me."

Now Dumbledore was confused, "Didn't Nox send you to kill me?"

At this, the little creature looked offended. Hoping off its perch, the little creature used its cane to help it limp across the space between them. "Kill you? No no. Misunderstand Nox, misunderstand myself, you do. Your death, serve no purpose it does. In life, help still you can."

"Help?" Dumbledore scoffed. "Some help I am. For nearly fifty years I've led the wizarding world down a path of ruin. It was only because of one whom I considered my enemy and did everything in my power to stop, that we managed to avoid total annihilation. How many people are going to want my help now?"

"Misunderstand me again, you do," The little green being said, hoping gracefully up into a chair across the desk and settling down into the cushion with his legs crossed. "Help others you can. Lead others, you and I, cannot. Our time as leaders, over it is. Our time as aides, advisors and mentors, begun, it has. Learn from failure you must. Teach oth of what you learned, you still can."

Feeling a shift under his hand, Dumbledore watched as Fawkes left his perch and went over to the small green creature. The little being stared up at the phoenix with a smile on his face as Fawkes began to trill a peaceful tune. "Fawkes likes you," Dumbledore said calmly, letting the song of the phoenix settle over him. "So…if I'm not to be killed…then I might as well do as you say and make myself useful. I have but two questions: Who are you and what does Nox need of me?"

The green creature smiled at Dumbledore nodding in agreement, "Yoda, I am. Jedi Master, the last I will be." Yoda sighed. "Long the Jedi protected the Republic and galaxy until betrayed by the Sith we were. Misunderstand Nox, you did. Yes?"

Dumbledore frowned, "Jedi? Sith? So the Sith are your enemies? Yes, I greatly misunderstood her. I thought she was leading young Harry down a dark path. I realize now how wrong I was."

Chuckling Yoda shook his head is amusement, "Dark the path is the way of the Guardians. Necessary it is. To defend and defeat the darkness, Guardians must tread within. In balance they are. Correct you are…but incorrect. A dark path awaits many Guardians. Jedi seek the dark places with caution we did."

Dumbledore furrowed his brow in memory trying to recall the words Harry spoke to him that he ignored, "I see. You have much wisdom, yet you are no Guardian?"

"Guardian I am not. Too old I am to change. Nearly nine hundred years I am…long have I trained Jedi I have. Teach still I will. But too old, yes, too old to change my path." Yoda smiled at Dumbledore's shocked look.

* * *

Standing upon her balcony overlooking the Guardian Temple, Nox frowned as her mind raced. Despite the death of the Emperor and elimination of most of the upper ranks of the New Sith Order, the war was still very much still in full swing. Nightshade had survived the encounter and was now more than likely consolidating what was left of her forces. Forces that Nightshade controlled now severely diminished. More frustrating that it was forces would have a hard time countering especially considering how nearly three-quarters of the world was currently warring against itself.

Nightshade wasn't all that concerned her either. While she expected that Vitiate's death would trigger the downfall of the shroud around Earth, she hadn't anticipated just how fast Darth Sidious would latch upon their location. Within seconds of Vitiate's death, she could sense Sidious's foul presence scouting out Earth. Luckily, the Sith had been so astounded by what he'd found that he left himself completely open for a split second, which was all she needed. With his sense stretched so far, she was able to send an attack of her own back at the Sith, using his own Force presence as a guide, and she blinded his Force vision. He could still see the future, but his ability to stretch his senses across the galaxy would be next to non-existence. At least for a decade or two. Long enough for Nox and her allies to properly plan on how to combat the Galactic Empire.

But while the future and its outlook had many in the Temple anxious and unsure, it wasn't the reason why Nox had sought out isolation. Harry, her son, had yet to still awaken since the battle. Her only source of comfort came from the fact that she could still sense her son's presence through their bond. Her son still lived, but after getting thoroughly mind fucked by the Emperor; his mind had retreated into itself to try and preserve him. Every moment she had to spare was spent at her son's bedside, using every technique she could to try and help him. But so far, everything she'd tried had failed. Even Master Fay was having little to no luck in reaching her son.

"He'll be fine Nox. Your kid's a strong one."

Blinking, Nox turned around. "Ashara," She breathed, staring at the semi-translucent form of her former lover standing just a few feet from her. "You're…"

"Yup," Ashara smirked as she accented the 'p'. "Still kicking. Well…metaphorically at least."

Taking a step forward, Nox reached out and tried to touch Ashara's face. To which her former lover leaned in, causing her hand to pass right through. "Worth a shot," Nox muttered as she let her hand drop.

"Definitely," Ashara agreed before letting out a breath. "Unfortunately, though Nox…this is where we say goodbye."

Clenching her teeth, Nox couldn't meet the togruta's eyes. "I know," She said, cursing her own weakness as she felt her eyes swell. "Doesn't mean that I have to like it though."

"I know," A ghostly hand came up and touched her on the cheek, making Nox close her eyes as she felt Ashara's touch through the Force rather than through physical contact. "But you need to let me go now Nox. For your sake…and for hers."

Opening her eyes, Nox stared at her former lover. "Ashara…"

"She deserves to be loved fully Nox," Ashara added quickly. "And you can't do that while you're still holding onto the past. Let go Ziri and look to the future. Just like you always told me to do whenever I would revert to some of my less than desirable Jedi habits. And for what it's worth Ziri, I approve of your choice. But then again, you always did have good taste. I mean you did choose me to begin with after all."

Unable to help herself, Nox chuckled. "Conceited much?"

Ashara returned her chuckle with one of her own and a cocky grin. "Well, I learned everything from you my love."

"Touché," Nox laughed, shaking her head. "Alright, the rest of you may as well come out here now as well."

One by one; Revan, Satele and Darth Marr appeared before her. "We thought it would be best to give you two a moment to yourselves first," Satele said serenely as old Jedi Grand Master stood tall and proud beside Marr.

"Why Satele," Nox said mockingly. "Is that sympathy I hear in your voice? I didn't know you were even capable of processing such a powerful emotion."

One of Satele's delicate brows rose. "I should've realized you haven't changed. But then again…after spending several days in that vast emptiness you call your mind, I shouldn't be surprised that you lack the mental capacity for change."

Staring at the Jedi, Nox blinked, then quickly turned and looked outside. "Okay…no flying cows or pigs. The sky isn't falling…and the galaxy isn't ending. Are you sure that you are the real Satele Shan? Cause I could've just sworn that you made a joke at my expense."

"I did," Shan replied, completely straight faced.

"Fine," Nox sighed, as her reply failed to garner the reaction she wanted from the Jedi. "Well…I guess this is goodbye then."

"Yes, it is," Revan nodded as Ashara stepped back so that she was in line with the other three. "You have succeeded where we have failed Nox. You have done much and brought a measure of balance back to the Force. Yet your trials are not yet done."

"I know," Nox nodded. "Still have one pesky Sith Emperor to deal with. Only this time he has most of the galaxy backing him."

"Not all support him Nox," Darth Marr intoned. "Many in the galaxy resent the creation of "Galactic" Empire. In the years to come, you will find allies in the strangest of places. Some old and some new. But never let your guard down. Sidious is nearly Vitiate's equal in terms of power. And Vader is not too far behind."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Marr," Nox sighed before sinking down to her knees. "Well…thank you. All of you. And now…may my light redeem you and send you on to be one with the Force once more."

One by one, the Force ghost before her began to glow as she channeled the Force through her and into them. Bit by bit, each part on their body began to become more and more translucent as they found their conduit into the Force that Nox had opened for them. And bit by bit, she could feel the power they'd given her slowly seep out of her body. _'Thank you, my love,'_ Ashara's voice rang in her mind as her form disappeared. _'And goodbye…until we meet again in the Force.'_

Opening her eyes, Nox stared blankly into her empty office. Getting up slowly, Nox all but collapsed into her chair as exhaustion took hold. _'Fuck_ …' She cursed, letting her head fall back. _'That…was a lot more taxing than last time.'_ "Come in Tonks."

The door to her office slid open silently, allowing a more than slightly nervous Nymphadora entry. "Is this a bad time? I can come back."

"No," Nox said, shaking her head and shutting the doors behind Tonks with a wave of her hand. "In fact, I think right now I would prefer your company more than anything."

Nodding, Tonks silently made her way around Nox's desk until she was standing directly behind her. Her soft hands gently brushed against Nox's shoulders for a moment before her thumbs and fingers began to expertly move across her aching muscles. Relaxing into her lover's touch, Nox let out a low groan as Tonks's fingers began gently coaxing her muscles to relax. "Do you want to talk about it Nox?"

Taking Tonks's hand, Nox brought it around and gently placed a kiss to the back of her hand. "Not right now…but one day soon yes."

Sensing a more than familiar feeling coming from Tonks, Nox reaffirmed her hold on the younger woman's hand and pulled her around and into her lap. "Nox!" Tonks half laughed. "What ar-"

That was as far as she managed to get and Nox sealed her lips with her own. Whatever complaint or objection Tonks had was lost as the two lost themselves in each other. **"Master Nox."**

Letting out a low groan, Nox reluctantly pulled herself back from Tonks, who gave her an all too knowing look of amusement. "Someone either be dead or dying," Nox growled, making Tonks giggle even more as she reached over and activated their end of the commun-link. "This had better be important."

 **"It is Master Nox,"** The voice, who Nox recognized as Master Fay, responded as Tonks began to burrow into Nox's neck while leaving a trail of light kisses starting at her jaw line.

"Then what is it?" She asked, trying to pay attention as Tonks renewed her assault against her neck.

 **"Harry is beginning to regain consciousness."**

Tonks's ministrations immediately ceased as both women went stock still. "Go," Tonks said, rising off Nox before she could utter a word. "He needs you now more than I."

"I'll be down in a minute," Nox responded before shutting off the comm-link. Rising from her seat, she took a half step around it before stopping. "Nymphadora."

Tonks managed to get her hands up in time to catch the metal cylinder that Nox had thrown at her from her desk. The young woman's eyes went impossibly wide as she stared at the lightsaber in her hands. "Nox…this…"

"I expect you to be ready to train with myself and Astoria first thing in the morning," Nox said, cutting her off. "I don't want you cutting your own limb off with that thing when you use it."

"Nox," Tonk call out again, this time more insistent. "This…this lightsaber. It…it was…"

"It was Ashara's. Now it is yours," Nox answered, turning around to face her lover fully. "She wanted you to have it. And so do I. It belongs in the hands of the woman I love. Not on a shelf gathering dust."

Nox clearly saw tears starting to form at the corners of Tonks's eyes. Tonks opened her mouth to respond, but Nox merely turned on her heel before she could, apparating out of the office and leaving one thoroughly stunned young woman behind.

* * *

Standing on the bridge of the Satele Shan along with his mother and Admiral Hackett, Harry was doing everything in his power to keep himself calm as he watched yet another asteroid pass them by. His mind was…not what it once was. At least not yet. A consequence of getting royally mind fucked by the greatest dark entity the galaxy had ever known. It'd taken nearly three days for Harry even to regain the mental capacity to awaken. And even then, it was only three days because his mother and Master Fay had taken rotating shifts at his bedside to help him heal his mind.

It was only because he had begged, on his hands and knees, that he could go on this mission. But even then, it was on the condition that if he showed even the slightest bit of unease or weakness he would be sent to the med-bay and sealed within even if his mother had to ward off the entire level to ensure it.

"Harry, are you alright?"

Turning his head, he nodded to Ahsoka who was standing just off to his left. "Yeah," He nodded to her before he resumed staring out of the forward viewport.

He felt something warm brush against his hand as Ahsoka's hand settled into his own. _'There's no shame in admitting your not well Harry,' Ahsoka_ said, speaking through their mind-link to avoid any eavesdropping. _'Even Master Nox and Master Yoda take a break when they need too.'_

 _'True_ ,' He admitted. _'But whatever Vitiate hid out here has to be incredible. He crawled out from the rock he was hiding under just because we discovered where it was located. It must be big. A ship…or some sort of weapon. Whatever it is, I want to be here when we find it. If, for no other reason than to throw one last insult at the bastard that tried to steal my mind and body from me.'_

"Visual confirmation of target in thirty seconds Admiral, Grand Master," The pilot called out as he roughly banked the cruiser around an asteroid, causing most of the crew to grab hold of something to make sure they didn't tilt.

"Thank you, Mr. Monreau," Nox called out. "And I would like to remind you that this is a cruiser, not a fighter. Continue making maneuvers like that last one and I will turn you into a figurehead and mount you on the prow of this ship. Am I understood?"

"Yes ma'am," The pilot, who Harry had learned went by the nickname of 'Joker', yelled back in a slightly higher pitched tone than normal. "Right…no crazy maneuvers…no fun at…whoa…that's a big rock."

Keeping his eyes forward, Harry couldn't help but silently agree with the pilot. The asteroid right in front of them was positively enormous. It was so big Harry was half convinced that it wasn't an asteroid at all, but rather a small moon that'd somehow gotten knocked out of orbit. "How did we miss something that big mothe-"

But Nox wasn't paying attention to him. In fact, she wasn't paying attention to anyone or anything save for the large asteroid right in front of them. "Scan the asteroid," She called out to no one in particular.

"Um, for what ma'am?"

"Anything," She shot back, her eyes still on the rapidly approaching rock.

The crewmen immediately got back to their task, their hands moving blindingly fast over their control panels. "Huh…well that's odd."

"What is it?" Nox asked, finally prying herself away from the viewport.

"There's…nothing there," The crewmen responded, clearly confused. "There has to be some sort of interference or something. But every sensor we have on the ship Grand Master, both magical and non-magical, are saying that there is nothing but empty space in front of us."

Nox didn't look necessarily surprised for some reason. In fact, she looked…pleased. "Good," She said, moving forward until she was almost on top of Joker as she reached over and began typing into his terminal. "Take us as close as you can to these coordinates Mr. Monreau," Turning and facing Harry, she strode past the two of them without a glance. "Admiral, have the shuttle prepared for immediate departure. We're heading down to the surface."

"Yes ma'am," Admiral Hackett nodded, sparing Harry and Ahsoka a parting nod before returning his attention back to the ship. "Take us in nice and easy Monreau. Any scratches and it comes out of your pay."

Harry and Ahsoka were left scrambling to catch up with Nox, and the two just barely made it onto the elevator behind her before the shut just behind them. "Mother," Harry said cautiously, seeing that his mother's focus was still on the strange asteroid they were approaching. "What…what is that asteroid? I've never seen you so…well…spooked."

Nox's eyes blinked as she shook her head and regarded her son. "I'm not spooked Harry. Merely…momentarily confused if you will. But if this asteroid is what I think it is, then it might just be the answer that we've been looking for."

"The answer to what, Master Nox?" Ahsoka asked as the elevator stopped and the doors opened, revealing the hanger bay.

"To how we're going to fight against the Empire my dear," Nox said, hurrying out of the elevator.

Following closely behind her, Harry saw several members of the ship's flight crew scrambling to prepare the LAAT shuttle while General Rex and Commander Gregor watched on. "Grand Master Nox," Rex called out, snapping to attention as the three of them approached. "The shuttle is just about ready for departure ma'am."

"Good," Nox nodded, sweeping past the two clone troopers and into the shuttle. "Pilot, take off immediately."

"Yes ma'am!" The pilot responded, flipping through the last of his pre-flight checks as Harry, Ahsoka, Rex, Wolffe and half a dozen other soldiers stepped up into the shuttle and took their seats.

Nox didn't take a seat, as she stayed almost directly behind the pilot as they flew out of the hanger and towards the asteroid. As they grew ever closer, with Nox guiding their every movement, Harry couldn't help but notice something. "Ahsoka…you've seen quite a few asteroids, right?"

"More than I care to count," Ahsoka nodded. "Sky-guy was a little…unconventional during the war."

"That's one way of putting it ma'am," Rex added. "Remember that time he had us tanks on an asteroid and them used the cruiser as bait to draw in a Seppy command ship in close to us? That was an interesting mission. Still can't believe we pulled that off."

"Well…" Ahsoka chuckled before a wave of unease settled over her and seeped through the bond. "Sky-guy was…unconventional."

Reaching out, Harry blindly placed his hand atop of hers to give her some comfort. "Well…have any of you ever seen an asteroid like that one before?"

Leaning forward in their seats, Ahsoka and the clones stared out the forward viewport. "No," Ahsoka said after a pregnant pause. "Some of the rock formations seem almost…man-made."

"Not man-made," Nox interjected with her back still turned towards them. "Pilot, head for that spot along the canyon wall."

"Yes ma'am," The pilot nodded as the shuttle slowly descended until it was almost touching the surface of the asteroid.

Once they'd reach the location Nox had pointed out, everyone in the shuttle was struck speechless at was embedded into the canyon wall. "Well…call me a clanker," Gregor mumbled. "That's a blast door…and pretty damn strong one by the looks of it. Bet we could fire every ordnance we have aboard the Satele Shan at it and it wouldn't even blink an eye at us. And I don't know about the rest of you…but I don't see a control panel anywhere on the surface either."

"Luckily, we don't need one," Nox said cryptically as she raised her hand.

For a second, nothing happened. But then the shuttle lurched slightly as a crack formed in the blast door as they slowly opened. At an almost excruciatingly slow pace, the door slowly slide to the either side, revealing a room beyond. Once there was a large enough to fit the shuttle, Nox lowered her hand, her breathing more than slightly labored. "Move us in and then turn us around. Harry, Ahsoka. I'm going to need your help to close the door once we're in."

Slowly, the shuttle inched its way into the darkened room. The floodlights on the shuttle illuminated the interior, revealing a small room that was just barely wide enough to fit two maybe three shuttles at most. "This looks like some sort of airlock," Ahsoka muttered to him as the shuttle slowly turned around towards the exit.

"That's because it is," Nox commented. "Now help me shut the doors."

Reaching out, Harry could sense his mother and Ahsoka grabbing either side of the sliding doors. Adding his strength to their own, the three of them slowly closed the doors until they were pressed tight against one another and then slid the seals into place. The moment the doors shut, the emergency lights within the shuttle came to life, providing a small amount of illumination. "Grand Master," The pilot called out. "Admiral Hackett is requesting an update immediately. Apparently, we disappeared from scanners the moment the doors shut."

"Tell him that we're fine," Nox said simply. "There's minerals within this asteroid which interferes with just about every form of scanner invented. Oh, and check the atmosphere. I want to know if we can step out or not."

The pilot nodded, relaying her message to the admiral before checking a few of the instruments in front of him. "Atmospheric readings are…normal? Nitrogen and oxygen levels are in the green and…and there's even gravity."

"Good," Nox nodded before opening the shuttle doors and hopping down off the shuttle and marching away, leaving Harry and the others to catch up to her.

Pulling out his wand, Harry created a sphere of light and hung in the air above them as Ahsoka did the same and Rex and Gregor activated the spotlights on their helmets. "Mother," Harry called out as Nox reached the wall that was on the opposite side of the main door. "You know what this place is, don't you?"

"Yes, I do," Nox nodded as she pressed down on a seemingly random spot on the wall.

A loud groaning echoed thorough the immediate area as a section of the wall cracked away from the rest and moved back, creating a path for them to follow. "Tell me," Nox continued as she stepped through the new opening while creating her own sphere of light and sending it ahead of her. "What do you all know of the Rakatan Infinite Empire?"

"The Rakatan?" Ahsoka asked, clearly confused. "I– I think I remember reading something about them during my years in the Jedi Temple. Didn't they control the galaxy before the creation of the Republic or the Empire?"

"Yes," Nox nodded as she led them deeper into the asteroid. "The Rakatan predate the Republic, the Empire…even Sith and Jedi. They were arguably the first to truly conquer the known galaxy. Until one day they just…disappeared. No one knows how their empire fell or even what happened to them. Almost all records of the Rakatan have been lost to time. But there is one thing that is known. The Rakatan where known as the 'Builders'. A name they earned after several of their constructs were found thousands of years after their disappearance. Three of which were of note more so than any other."

Coming to a dead end, Nox searched the wall for a second before pressing down on another random section of wall to open a new another path. "What were these…constructs ma'am?" Rex asked as his head kept in constant motion, searching for threats.

"The first, and the most well-known, was the station known as the Star Forge," Nox continued with her lecture as she led them deeper and deeper. "It was a giant mobile space station that was capable of creating capital ships, dreadnaughts, supply ships and droids. And if you remember your history well, you will remember that Revan destroyed the Star Forge. The second construct is one that has only been read about and has no name. But, if what has been theorized about it is correct, then it can terraform an entire world faster than any current or even theorized process. And the last…and the one that we are currently on board is known as the Foundry."

Opening another section of wall, Nox led them into a large open chamber. As they stepped inside, Harry couldn't help but gaze around in awe as the three spheres of light filtered into the room. Even with all three lights spacing themselves out, barely half of the large room was illuminated. The room was…empty. Save for a few smaller rocks that were floating in midair. And the single platform that they were standing on, which led towards a large control center located in the middle of the room.

"The Foundry?" Rex question as he stared around. "So…this is a giant manufacturing facility then Grand Master? What can it make?"

Chuckling slight, Nox made her way towards the center of the room. "The question isn't what it can make General. The question is what the Foundry can't make. During my brief time studying this place and based off the reports that I read from the Imperial scientist who were sent in to study it. This facility can create an almost inconceivable number of droids in a matter of days. Everything from battle droids to protocol droids. It can also create fighters and frigates. Unfortunately, it cannot create a cruiser or dreadnaught like the Star Forge. But it can create the pieces of the ship which can be assembled at a different location easily."

"And best of all," Nox said, coming to stop before the control panel in the center of the room. "All that it takes to run this facility, is a single Force user."

Raising her hand, Harry watched in amazement as the panel came to life under her outstretched hand. The entire facility shuddered as the sound of gears turning echoed. Lights began turning on, illuminating the room they were in as the rock that'd been suspending in the air began to slowly drift downwards into the depths below. As he watched, Harry breathed the only word that he could think of now, "Wicked."

"Indeed son," Nox smiled as several screens began coming to life above the panel. "General Rex…something you wish to add?"

Blinking, Harry turned around towards General Rex. The clone had taken his helmet off and was watching the rocks floating downwards with a bemused smile on his face, "Just…ironic ma'am. My brothers and I fought against the clankers to try and keep the Republic alive. And now…now we're going to be fighting with the clankers to bring the Empire down. Just…ironic ma'am."

Ahoska's lips turned upwards as Harry felt amusement filter through their bond. "Yes, it is General," Nox nodded as specifications for droids began appearing on screen. "But as any halfway decent Force wielder will be able to tell you: The Force loves its ironies."

* * *

The sun was shining down brightly on the small village of Godric's Hollow as a lone man wearing a long dark robe walked down its streets. Coming upon a small cemetery, the man hesitated only a moment before he pushed the opened the gate and made his way in. Walking between the headstones, the man made his way towards the back until he came upon two that were side by side. Kneeling, Harry Potter gently brushed off some debris that'd covered his parents' headstones. "Hey mum, dad," Harry said, gently tracing the name of his parents as he talked. "I'm sorry that I haven't been to see you in…well a long time. But I've…I've been more than a little busy as I'm sure you guys no doubt know."

Reaching into the folds of his robe, Harry pulled out two pristine red roses. Laying one on each headstone, he rolled back on his heels and sat down between his parents' graves. "It's been over two years since the war started. Or rather, since the Day of Reckoning, as everyone has come to call it. And, well…it's been a rough ride."

Pausing, Harry looked up at the blue sky and just sat there, enjoying the feeling of the sun on his face. "Despite losing the Emperor, the Sith didn't lose as much ground as we'd hoped. Nightshade was right there to pick up after the Emperor's death. She took over command of the Children and the Condemned. And they have the same blind obedience towards her that they did towards Vitiate. Not to mention those dragons that she modified, Merlin's balls were those things a pain in the arse to deal with. But instead of attacking us head on, she went underground and operated purely from the shadows. Stoking the fires of war that were already spreading across the world. The problem was…we simply didn't have the numbers to quell so many civil wars. Even with the droids that Foundry was able to supply us with. It seemed like we would just manage to stop one fight and then three more would spring up. Merlin knows all of us within the Guardian Order were starting to get exhausted."

Stopping again, Harry once again reached into his robes and pulled out a small hip-flask. "I hope that you don't mind mum," He said, taking a sip from of firewhiskey. "I know that dad wouldn't care, but Sirius helped me to develop a taste for this. I don't drink it too often, but…we'll you know. It does help on occasion. The non-magicals don't call it 'liquid courage' for nothing right?"

Taking another sip, Harry closed the flask off and put it back. "Where was I? Oh yeah, so we didn't seem to be making any head way at all. We couldn't find Nightshade and one conflict after another just kept getting in our way. And then…I really don't know how it happened…but one day nearly a third of the world's population just seemed to have enough and they joined up with us. Might have something to do with the fact that the countries that were under the protection of the Guardian Order were prospering thanks to the droids. Anyway, after that everything just seemed to go our way. Mother took a leading role in the formation of a new world government, and even right now there's talk of making her position permanent. Despite quite a few protests, but those are few and far between."

"And that day might not just be too far off either. Considering about ninety percent of Earth is now a part of this New Earth Government…although Mother said she's seriously thinking about changing the name of that. I think she'd prefer something along the lines of the 'Imperial Republic' or something like that," Harry added with a smile. "And speaking of the war…it should almost be over now. We've finally managed to track her down Nightshade that is. The last remnant of the New Sith Order that plunged Earth into chaos. She was slippery…not even her own subordinates knew where she was. But she slipped up. And now we have her. And with one last campaign we're looking to bring an end to the Sith on Earth."

Feeling a soft wind blowing across his face, Harry tilted his head back and basked in the moment of peace. "Of course, not everything has been smooth sailing. Politically, things were a nightmare for a long time and still are. The reveal of the fact that magic did indeed exist nearly caused another civil war to break out. And then Mother's reveal that she too was magical didn't really help matters, not that she could've hidden it. But still, after all the death and destruction more than a few people were and still are, leery of magic. And the same can be said of the magicals being leery of world knowing of their continued existence. The memory of the witch hunts is still fresh in their minds.

"And then came the even bigger bombshell, so to speak. The reveal that most of the Guardian Order, and most of Mother's trusted advisors, are in fact alien refugees. That caused more than a few protests. But at the same time, it seemed to stop more protests than it started. Everyone became fascinated. And scared. But with all the good the Guardians, specifically the non-humans among us, had done seemed to win the people over. And soon the fact that they weren't even human didn't seem to matter. At least to most. There are still a few die-hard groups out there that are completely xenophobic. But they're few and far between."

"In fact," Harry continued. "Things have actually gotten to the point where Mother is pretty much in control of four-fifths of the planet right now. All the world's official military have been centralized and now report to her. It was quite a shock when one day we looked at it and realized just what was going on. Without even meaning too…Mother had basically become an Empress in all but name seemingly overnight. And the bigger shock came from the newly created world senate…a referendum had been presented to make Mother's position permanent. Of course, the former Jedi Masters that came with us didn't necessarily care for that too much, despite the good she's done. And it took Mother dosing herself with veritaserum to get them to believe that she had no hand in the referendum. And once they realized that this was in fact the will of the people, they stepped back and agreed to it. It passed through the world senate almost unanimously, and it's now gone onto a world vote. Which just so happened to occur two days past and we're now waiting to hear about the official results."

"But that's enough of that," Harry said, letting out a low breath. "I'm sure you two don't really care about what's going on in the war. On to things you two probably do care about. Believe it or not dad, Amelia managed to drag Sirius to the altar before she gave birth to their son. James Regulus Black. I was half afraid that Sirius would name me his godfather, but Amelia or someone must've talked to him before that happened because he ended up naming Remus James's godfather. And it was a good choice too. Remus is an excellent godfather. Oh, and about Remus. He asked Aela to marry him, and she turned him down flat! She then slapped him upside the head and said that they were already mated, which apparently means more than just a simple marriage to the werewolves. Anyway, about two weeks ago Aela dropped a bombshell of her own. She's pregnant. Remus fainted on the spot! I don't think I've ever seen Mother laugh so hard in my entire life."

"And speaking of having someone in your life…I've found the 'someone' for me," Harry continued, unable and unwilling to stop the smile from spreading across his face. "Her name is Ahsoka Tano. And dad, I'm keeping the family tradition going cause she's not human. She's not even from Earth. But I know that you would both like her. Mum, you'd like her cause she's wicked smart, strong and caring. Dad, you'd like her cause she's drop dead gorgeous and a total badass. She's kicked my arse more than once already when I deserved it."

Pausing, Harry stared up at the sky, allowing the wind to gently brush across his face. "I really wish that you two could've met her. But I know that you're both one with the Force, and that you're both looking down on us," Rising to his feet, Harry brushed off his knees as he stood fully. "I love you both mum and dad. And I miss you…more than words can describe. But one day I know that we will see each other again. But not yet."

Resting his hand atop each grave stone one last time, Harry gave each of his parents a smile before turning his back on them and walking away. Less than two blocks from the graveyard, a lone LAAT was sitting in the middle of the street. Ahsoka and Ginny were both standing just beside the LAAT as they waited for him. Ahsoka was the first to spot him, her eyes lit up slightly as he approached, and she took a step forward to meet him before he could reach the LAAT.

"Are you okay Harry?" She asked as she wrapped her arms around his middle.

"Yes," Harry answered.

Ahsoka pulled back and met his eyes. _'There's still pain within you Harry.'_

 _'And there always will be,'_ Harry answered back _. 'Nothing can change that. But I won't let that pain consume me.'_

 _'I know Harry,'_ Ahsoka shot back as she pulled away from him _. 'I'm not worried about that.'_

"By Morgana's bloody knickers…I told you two that this is like peeping through the bed curtains when you two do your mind speaking shite so close to me," Ginny called out, ending the moment between the two.

Pressing a light kiss to Ahsoka's forehead, Harry pulled away from his girlfriend. "And you're still a peeping Tom Ginny, or is there another phrase that would be appropriate seeing as how you're a dame?"

Ginny waved him off, but Harry could still feel a slight amount of embarrassment from his apprentice. "In your dreams Master. As if I would ever want to spy on you. Ahsoka maybe. But you…no."

"Thanks, Apprentice," Harry grumbled as he stepped past the two chuckling women. "Just for that, I think you've earned three hours of meditation after the battle is over."

"Are you three done flirting yet?" Daphne asked as she leaned forward enough to poke her head around the side door of the LAAT. "Our forces are at the final staging area before Nightshade's headquarters. If we don't leave now, Grand Admiral Hackett will start the battle without us."

"Well," Harry said, pulling himself into the LAAT with Ginny and Ahsoka stepping in right behind him. Making a quick turn, he spotted Hermione, Susana and Luna were all still seated with their eyes closed as they mental began preparing for what was to come. "Well ladies…let's go end a war."

* * *

Sitting on her makeshift throne, Empress Nightshade took a long pull from her pipe as she listened the bombardment that was currently leveling what little was left of her forces and her primary base of operations. She knew that her time was almost over. Not that she necessarily planned on going quietly either. No. She was going to make these fools that foiled her plans work for it.

Another bomb went off, this one close enough to shake the very foundations of her empty throne room. Tapping her pipe to against a golden plate, Nightshade watched stared blankly at the empty room. Everything had been going perfectly. The Children were awakened by the Emperor. Dragons altered and made to follow her every order. The world was in chaos. And the forces of light were pushed back to the brink of extinction. All had been going to plan. And then it all went to shit the moment Vitiate got himself killed.

Not that his death was unwanted. No, far from it. But Nightshade was supposed to have been the one to kill the ancient entity. At a time of her choosing once she'd learned everything she could from it. She'd learned how to create the Children with a bond to the Emperor. But she was not able to replicate the procedure again for some reason. At best she'd only been able to turn the few Children that were still around to her side. She also never learned how to fully create the dementors. She studied the memory of Voldemort creating them time and time again, she even tried to replicate the ritual, but she failed every time. And now she never would be able to do it right. Because the bitch killed the Emperor long before she could learn what his secret was.

And then came the blasted droids. How Nox was able to make so many so quickly, or even create them in the first place, still confused Nightshade. And just about everyone else in the world as well. It was well known that the Guardians had managed to find or create some sort of factory that could pump out the walking rust buckets faster than veela went through partners. But no one outside of the Order knew where this factory was. Every attempt Nightshade made to find it was for naught and often cost her valuable resources that she couldn't easily replace.

And as Nox and her precious Order started claiming one victory after another across the war-torn Earth, both muggles and magicals started to flock to her banner. One by one, nations stopped their infighting and threw their lot in with Nox. In private, Nightshade could almost admire Nox for what she was doing. The bitch was creating a world order that followed her every command. It didn't matter that Nox was a magical. It didn't matter that some of her most trusted advisors and a fair portion of the Guardian Order were in fact alien refugees. The people looked up to her with a devotion that was almost fanatical. It was sickening. A vote had already been called for on a global scale about whether Nox's position would be made into a lifetime appointment. And from what her own spies, the few she had left, had reported she wouldn't really be surprised if after this battle Nox would be named the 'Empress of Earth'. And the people of earth just seemed to accept it!

 _'Not that I intend to allow her to have the position,'_ Nightshade thought as she set her pipe aside and gracefully rose to her feet as the sounds of fighting grew ever closer to her throne room. _'There is only room for one Empress of Earth.'_

Walking down her dais, she soundlessly summoned her wand to her left hand and her goblin wrought sword to her right just as the doors to her inner chambers were thrown open. Coming to the base of the stairs, Nightshade cocked her head slightly at the lone figure that stood in the doorway, "I should've known that Nox was too much of a coward to come and fight me herself."

Standing just within the now open doors was none other than the one that Voldemort feared. The one that'd been 'prophesied' to defeat the Dark Lord. Nox's own adopted son, and personal lapdog, Harry Potter. "My mother isn't a coward," The boy snapped back, but without any real heat in his voice. "She simply had larger issues to deal with at the moment. So, she sent me to deal with taking out the trash."

"Ha," Nightshade laughed slightly, shaking her head. "Almost amusing boy. Did it take your feeble mind all day to come up with that insult?"

"Nah," Harry replied, shaking his head. "I'm just quick like that."

Huffing, Nightshade stared past the boy. "Tell me boy. Where are your well-known protectors? The Valkyries, if I am not mistaken. If not Nox, I was at least expecting that you and your Valkyries would be the ones to come for me. But here you are, alone. Not even your pet apprentice or that alien slut you parade around."

The boy's lightsaber snapped into existence and was pointed right towards her as the air in the room became physically heavier, "Do not speak of Ahsoka like that again."

"Or what?" Nightshade asked mockingly. "You'll kill me? You're already here to do that. You'll torture me? I doubt that as well. No. Save your breath boy. Your threats mean nothing to me now. Everything I have worked so hard for is gone. You have nothing left to threaten me with."

The boy stared hard at her for a moment before his shoulders dropped and he let out a slight chuckled. "Well, I guess that you got me on that one. So…what do we do now? Skip the whole insulting each other phase and get right to the part where we try to kill one another?"

Reversing her grip on her sword, she drove the blade down hard enough to sink it several inches into the tile floor. "I like you boy," She said, letting go of the sword, which stayed in place, and tucked her wand back into her sleeve. "And I believe that we shall do just that. But before we begin, I would have you humor me for a moment. Tell me…were you the one who killed Sanguine?"

"Sanguine?" Harry asked, clearly caught off guard. "Now that is a name that I haven't heard in a long time. But to answer your question, no, I didn't kill him. My mother disarmed him, quite literally, and let Daphne end his miserable existence. Why? Did he mean something to you?"

"No," Nightshade responded. "But I meant everything to him. For without me, he wouldn't have even existed."

Grabbing hold of the small necklace around her neck, Nightshade roughly snapped the chain around her neck and threw the offending object away from her. Across from her, Harry's eyes widened in surprise as he took a half step back to turn his body sideways.

Not that Nightshade could blame him of course. The necklace wasn't some simple illusion. It was a powerful enchantment that changed her entire physical being. And after wearing it for so long, she could feel each change that occurred. She could feel it as her hair lengthened and turned white. She could feel it as her skin went ashen. She could feel her ears elongated and become pointed at the tips. She could feel her fingers extend and nails lengthen and sharpen. And most of all, she could feel as her jaw altered, and her teeth became fangs in her mouth.

"You're just like Vlad," Harry stated as he stared at her. "You're the other Vampire Dread Lord."

Feeling the change cease, Nightshade rolled her head around as she adjusted once again to her true form. "I am nothing like Vlad," Nightshade responded, opening her now blood red eyes and staring down at the boy. "I was one of the first to be granted this gift. And I am the eldest vampire on this world boy. Every vampire that walks this Earth has blood that can be traced back to me. And it was my destiny to turn this world into a paradise. A destiny you and your mother ruined when you destroyed the key to my ascension."

"The Emperor," Harry stated.

"Yes," Nightshade drawled, grabbing ahold of her sword and roughly pulling it from the ground. "Now come boy. We have wasted enough time with this pointless chatter."

Shifting his stance, the boy held onto his lightsaber with two hands and brought it up to his back shoulder, "Your funeral, Nightshade."

* * *

Standing on the balcony overlooking the Guardian Temple, Nox stared off into the horizon as the sun began its slow descent. While she was present in physical form, her mind was anywhere but at the Temple as she watched through her mind's eye the battle going on across the world. A battle to end the Sith. She could sense her armies steady advance despite everything Nightshade threw at them. The mixture of Guardians, magicals, non-magicals and droids cutting through the last of the Sith's forces with ease. She felt as Harry cut and unrelenting path through Nightshade's inner sanctum until she was left standing alone in front of the last of the Sith on Earth. She felt the rush of emotion from her son as the end was within his grasp. She felt him draw his weapon and prepare himself. Then…she felt it end.

"Over, it is."

Coming out of her mental state, Nox turned her head slightly and spied Master Yoda sitting cross legged on a small platform hovering several feet off the ground just off to her left side. "Yes," She nodded, not bothering to hide the smile that came to her as she felt the end of the last of the Sith. "Nightshade is defeated. The Sith's hold on this world is now gone."

Humming, Yoda stared off into the distance with her. "One war ends…another begins. Endless cycle, it is."

Nodding, Nox turned her back on the view and made her way in. "There is an old saying, Master Yoda. 'Only the dead have seen the end of war'. Confrontation is an unfortunate and indisputable part of all sentient beings. And while the wise will not actively seek out confrontation, they must always be ready for it."

"Wise words they are, Master Nox," Yoda agreed, his floating platform following along beside her.

Using a brief push with the Force, Nox moved her chair to the side and sunk down into it. Laying her right hand on her desk, her fingers twitched and itch to press down on the small panel on the corner of her desk that would activate the large television in her room. "Nervous, you are."

"Really?" Nox asked rhetorically, casting side-eyed glance at the ancient Jedi Master. "What was your first clue?"

"Because nervous, you are," Yoda responded, completely straight faced.

Chuckling in spite of herself, Nox leaned back. "Oh Yoda…I'm glad that I will always have your dry humor to fall back on. Perhaps you'd like a permanent spot as a court jester?"

Yoda's faced scrunched up at that, "Jester, I am not."

"No," Nox agreed. "You're right. You're too short for that position."

Grumbling, Yoda floated away from her. Just as he did, the door to her room opened and Tonks strode in. Nox's metamorphmagus lover had defiantly changed in the past two years, and not just physically. She had an air of confidence and grace about her now that reminded Nox of Ashara greatly. And with the fact that Tonks now preferred to wear the robes of the Guardians, despite her not being associated with them, and she wore Ashara's lightsaber at her hip always…it was hard not to compare the two no matter how hard she tried not to.

"Nox, Master Yoda," Tonks said, greeting the ancient Jedi respectfully with a slight bow.

Fighting down the lump in her throat, Nox met the obviously forced neutral face of her lover. "Tonks…I take it that the vote has been finalized?"

"Yes," Tonks nodded, which garnered Yoda's attention as his ears twitched. "Eighty-five percent of the world vote has been collected and it was so overwhelming that the senate decided to call it. So, let me just be the first to say…congratulations Empress Nox. Although that title might change soon as well…bit of a bad vibe according to the senate but…you get the picture luv."

Letting go of the breath she hadn't even been aware she was holding in, Nox felt herself relax, if ever so slightly, for the first time in several years, "Congratulations…. Empress."

Turning her head, she felt her elation fall slightly at the look on Yoda's face. "Despite what many may believe Master Yoda, I did not arrange for this to happen. Maybe when I first came to Earth I would have, but now…I was content in my role. And before you start thinking that this is just going to be another Sith Empire, don't. I've lived through the tyranny of the Sith Empire before. And I'm going to aim not to repeat the same mistakes the current Empire, or the Empire of old, have made."

"Know this, I do," Watching him close his eyes, Nox could almost feel the ancient little creature reach out into the Force for guidance. "Pleased with this…the Force is. Follow the path laid by the Force, I will."

"Good," Nox nodded, for some reason she couldn't explain, the little bugger had grown on her quite a bit as of late. Like an annoying relative that you both tried to avoid and sought approval from at the same time. "And besides, this is a promotion for you as well. Chief Advisor. That is of course unless you'd like to stay out of it all and continue to teach the younglings instead."

"Served as Advisor in the past, I have," Yoda nodded, his face pensive. "Unsure if I will again…meditate on this, I will. Answer you soon, I will."

"That's all I can ask for," Nox said, turning back towards Tonks. "Anything else dear?"

"Yes," Tonks nodded. "The senate won't be announcing the tally until tomorrow. But until then they want to send over an armed security detail until a new division can be formed."

"No need," Nox shot back, grabbing one of the dozen of datapads up off her desk and tossing it over to Tonks. "These seven, should they agree to the transfer, will be the first wave of my security detail. Who knows…maybe we'll name the new division after them. Something-seven I think would work the best."

While Tonks was busy scrolling through the names and reading up on their credentials, Nox sent out a mental wave to the next individual that she wanted to talk to. Who'd, conveniently enough, just now arrived back at the Temple. "Whoa Nox," Tonks breathed as she finished the list. "This is a proverbial who's who of war heroes."

"Of course, they are," Nox nodded, sensing the next individual making their way towards them. "This…whatever-seven, is going to be the best of the best. Magical and non-magical. Now dear, if you could please go about seeing to that list please. The next conversation about to take place is of a rather…delicate nature."

Nodding, Tonks gave her a half-salute and wink before turning making her way out of the room. Just as Tonks disappeared, her next guest arrived. "Ah, Master Kenobi, please. Come in and have a seat."

The middle-aged Master nodded politely as he entered the room, "Thank you Master Nox, Master Yoda."

"Tell us, Master Kenobi," Nox said as Obi-Wan took his seat across from her. "How goes the relief efforts away from the front lines?"

Folding his hands together, Kenobi took on an air of serenity as he leaned back, "Well enough. The new agricultural droids have made enough headway in the damaged countries that supplying food to the population in those areas will not be an issue. Cleaning up the debris from the cities and finding new housing for the refugees however is taking some time. But those projects are coming along as well. Our best estimate right now is that within a year, maybe two, almost all damage done by the Sith attacks will have been eradicated."

"Good," Nox nodded, glad to hear of the progress that was being done with the restoration of Earth.

"Yes, it is," Obi-Wan nodded, shooting a look between Nox and Yoda. "But that is not the reason you asked for me is it?"

"No," Nox said plainly, seeing no reason to beat around the bush. "No doubt you have heard about the vote and its outcome, even if it hasn't been publicly announced."

The corner of Kenobi's eye twitched, "It was pretty much a forgone conclusion."

"Maybe to some Kenobi," Nox added, narrowing her eyes. Of all the Masters, Kenobi was one of the few that still opening voice his concerns about Nox being elected as a permanent head of state. "Now I know well your concerns on the matter, and I actually share some of them as well. Don't forget, I lived through a time where a single being controlled the Sith and the Empire. I know full well the danger of 'wearing too many hats', as it were. So, to alleviate that I've come to a decision that was, frankly, not easy. As of tomorrow, Master Kenobi, I will be stepping down as Grand Master of the Guardian Order. And as my last act, I'm naming you as the Order's new Grand Master. Congratulations."

In one of the very few times since she'd known him, the 'Negotiator' was left speechless. Slowly, his head turned back and forth, alternating his gaze from Master Yoda to herself several times before stopping, "You're…you're appointing me as Grand Master?"

"Yes," Nox answered simply. "Is that so hard to believe? And before you ask, I did offer the position to our little friend here, but he turned me down."

"My place, to lead the Guardians it is not," Yoda commented before Kenobi could say anything. "Best choice for this position Master Kenobi, you are."

"And don't get me wrong Obi-Wan," Nox cut in. "I didn't select you as my successor just because Yoda didn't want it. In fact, you were always my first choice should there ever come a time when I had to step down."

Leaning back in his seat, Kenobi's eyes went downward as he visibly tried to process what'd just happened, "Not that I don't appreciate the sentiment Master Nox, because I do. But-"

"Why you?"

"-why me?"

Leaning back against her desk, Nox crossed her arms over her chest. "I assume that you mean why you over Master Fay, Shaak Ti, Vos or even Secura. Master Fay will not be here long. Sure she has Gabrielle as an Apprentice and that will keep her tied to Earth for a time. But she follows the will of the Force and one day soon she will leave and there is no telling when she will be back. Vos…well he's too much of a maverick to hold such a position of responsibility for long. And as for Shaak Ti and Secura, while it is true the three of you are pretty much on equal footing you have something that the other two do not. Narcissa."

That got a slight reaction from the middle-aged man, not much of one. No more than ever so slight reddening of his ears and an uncomfortable cough, but a reaction none the less. "You mean…the fact that I'm-"

"The fact that your banging Narcissa has nothing to do with it," Nox cut in, making Kenobi cough more than slightly uncomfortably as his cheeks reddened. "Nothing to be ashamed about Obi-Wan. Jedi stamina is something of a legend. And Narcissa certainly appreciates it if the noises coming from your rooms are anything to go by. But it's not the fact that you are in a relationship that tipped the scales in your favor. It's the fact that you've come to love her. And don't bother trying to deny it. You're still getting used to both accepting, and suppressing, such a powerful emotion to not wear it on your sleeve. And because you are so open about the fact that you love her…well that just tells me that you truly have accepted the Guardian philosophy."

Kenobi stared at her as she finished, his emotions such a chaotic mess that even the cool 'Negotiator' couldn't keep them straight. After several long moments he manage to get himself under control and he rose to his feet. "If this is truly what you wish for-"

"It is Obi-Wan."

"Then I accept," Kenobi nodded.

"Good," Nox smiled, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "Now just because I'm stepping back from the Order does not mean that I'm leaving it entirely. I don't want what I've built to fall apart. Not that I think it will under your leadership, but I still wish to be kept appraised of as much as possible."

"I understand," Kenobi nodded.

"Good," Nox nodded, standing up and holding out her hand. "Well then, congratulations Grand Master Kenobi."

Taking her hand, Kenobi gave her an ever so slight smirk. "Thank you, Grand Master Nox. I will not fail you."

* * *

Sitting with her back straight and her head held high, Miranda Lawson studied every face that was sitting around the large conference table she was sitting at. At the young age of only twenty-one, many in the room were more than likely questioning why she was even here at all. And while any normal twenty-one-year-old would be nowhere near these individuals, Miranda was anything but normal. At the tender age of eight she'd already graduated top of her class from the most prestigious high school her father could get her into. At the age of eleven she received her first bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and biology. And then at twelve she received her bachelor's in psychology. She obtained her double master's degree in chemistry and psychology and then her doctorate at eighteen.

Naturally she had her pick of careers…but then the Day of Reckoning came about. And everything Miranda thought she knew was thrown out the window. It was during the war that she was approached by her current employer about an opportunity. One that wanted humanity to not only survive the war…but to come out stronger and better than ever before. She spent the entirety of this war performing numerous experiments to try and better humanity. Somewhere…not necessarily to her tastes. But she did what she had to make the most of a terrible situation.

And now, the war was over. Nox and her alien Guardians had won the war, a fact that rankled her boss more than slightly. And now that same woman who brought the aliens to their doorstep had been declared 'Empress' of Earth, for lack of better term. Which most definitely did not sit well with her employer. Nor did it sit well with the other two dozen individuals who were sitting with them at the table.

"Gentlemen, ladies," Jack Harper, Miranda's boss called out, bringing an end to the idle chatter that'd been going on around the room. "I thank you all for meeting us here today. I know this location is more than a little unorthodox…but secrecy is our greatest asset now. Especially for a discussion such as the one we're about to have."

"And what sort of discussion is that?" A middle eastern man asked while others nodded in agreement. "You contacted all of us through unorthodox means to arrange this little meeting…and that is the only reason why I even entertained the idea of attending."

Pulling a pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket, her boss calmly pulled one out and lit it before continuing. "Let us rewind the clock to three years ago. All of you here were the leaders of the world. You had the money and the power to do whatever you wanted. And then the Day of Reckoning came. Your once secure position's where thrown aside as survival took precedence. And now that things are stable…all of you are still stuck on the outside looking in as Nox takes power."

"And what do you want us to do about it Mr. Harper?" Miranda's father asked as he leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. "Despite many of our best efforts…that sorceress bitch still managed to get herself elected to the position she now holds. There is nothing that we can do now but adapt and move on."

Taking a long pull, Harper nodded as he let the smoke exit through his nose. "You are correct Mr. Lawson. At the moment Nox is untouchable. Which means we must adapt. Evolve."

"And what do you suggest we do then?" An older Asian woman asked.

"We take a page out of Nox's own playbook," Harper explained. "Nox was brilliant in her plan. She started small, taking over companies and coming out with one innovation after another until she controlled quite a bit of the market. Innovations that I am now certain came from her alien advisors. I'm suggesting that we do the same."

"You're suggesting that we try to out innovate beings from another planet?" A dark-skinned man laughed. "I doubt we will be able to compete."

"The only reason we failed in the first place was because we were not united," Harper said sharply. "Together, our combined assets will be able to match anything Nox can put out. And slowly, we will erode her credibility and take her powerbase out from underneath her one piece at a time. And once we are ready, we will remove Nox and her aliens from our planet. And then humanity will be back on top, where it belongs."

Most around the room looked all too ready to agree. 'And why shouldn't they?' Miranda thought, noting the smug look of satisfaction on her father's face. 'Most of them have been burned by Nox in the past. It shouldn't be too hard to convince them all to work together. At least until Nox is removed. It is keeping them together after Nox has been removed that will be the problem.'

"Let us here more of this…plan of yours Mr. Harper." The same middle-eastern man from before said curiously.

Putting out his cigarette and smiled, "I'm purposing that we all pool our resources into a single entity called Cerberus. From there we will work in the shadows doing whatever is necessary to not only remove Nox from power. But to make sure that humanity is truly the dominate power amongst these…aliens."

"And how can we be sure that we all receive equal shares from this, Cerberus organization?" Another voice asked.

"By contract, this body here will be the board of directors," Miranda spoke up, taking over for her boss as he'd instructed her beforehand. "You will each have equal say in what goes on within the organization and will receive equal payouts to all advances, technological or not, and profits that are generated from our expenditures."

 _'Of course, that is what they're supposed to believe_ ,' Miranda thought as the sheep around the table once again began conversing with one another. _'But considering this is going to an organization that, technically, doesn't exist. Who will they complain too if the terms of the contract are not met? The Empress? She'd arrest them immediately for being part of an illegal organization.'_

"But there is still one fatal flaw in you plan Mr. Harper," A middle-aged woman said, gaining everyone's attention. "Nox herself is a powerful sorceress, or witch if you will. None of us here are godless enough to be cursed with magic. How are we supposed to stand against such a devil spawn?"

Miranda's fingers tensed slightly at the slur, but she forced herself to remain perfectly calm on the outside. "For that my dear," her boss said calmly. "I have a simple answer. On the oldest in history. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'. And I found us a 'friend'. A powerful friend."

More than a few in the room stared at Harper with confusion. "And where is this, 'friend' of ours, Mr. Harper?"

"I am right here crone."

Even though she knew that her boss had invited his newly acquainted friend to this meeting, she had no idea of just who this 'friend' was. And now that she did…Miranda was staring to seriously wish that she hadn't. And the fact that the 'friend' had apparently apparated into the room without a single sound was…unsettling. "Ladies and gentlemen." Her boss said with a smile, rising to his feet. "I'm pleased to introduce you to our ace in the hole against Nox. Bellatrix Lestrange."

Miranda felt her heart skip a beat. She never in a million years thought that she would one day be sitting in the same room as one of the most infamous killers in the magical world. "My my," Bellatrix purred as she walked down the line of people sitting at the table. "You all look like you've just seen a ghost."

"Bellatrix Lestrange," One of the people around them choked. "You died."

Stopping in place, Bellatrix stared at the one who'd spoken, and then raised her hands and clapped them together. "Nope…still solid. So, I'm not a ghost. Guess that means I'm not dead. I could be an inferi…but I'm still warm and blood still flows through my veins so that's out. A vampire? Possibly…but nope. No thirst for blood either."

Clearing his throat, her boss nodded for Bellatrix to take the lone seat directly across from Miranda. "Ms. Lestrange just barely managed to survive the goblins turning on her and her husband. She's been on the run from Nox and her Guardians ever since. Two months ago, I came across her as she was on the run. She was near death and since then I've been sheltering her in one of my private facilities. Not even my assistant Ms. Larson here knew of her existence. And now, Bellatrix is in perfect health. And more importantly, she's more than a match for Nox. Especially once she finishes undergoing a few…enhancements that she's agreed to."

"Of course, I will be," Bellatrix replied calmly, taking her seat.

"And what is your price?" The middle-eastern man asked. "No one does anything for free."

To this, Bellatrix merely smiled and leaned back in her seat while placing her hands behind her head. "My dear…I owe a debt. And it's a debt I intend to repay in full. That is all you need to know. Now…are all of you in…or out?"

More than a few looks, and words were passed over the next few minutes as everyone around the time took their time making their decisions. And through it all, Bellatrix remained sitting there, her hands behind her head like she didn't have a care in the world. "Very well Mr. Harper," The pious woman from earlier spoke up after the talking had died down. "We are with you and this plan of yours."

"Splendid!" Bellatrix grinned, rising to her feet and placing her hands into the sleeves of her robes. "Then I have no qualms about this. _Avada kedavra_!"

The green streak shot out from Bellatrix's sleeve, sailing through the air and striking the pious woman in the face, sending her head over heels and to the ground. Her attack was so sudden that she managed to fire off the deadly curse three more times before anyone was even able to leave their seats.

"Oh no you don't," Bellatrix sung as several people tried in vain to pull on open the doors. " _Ignis vincula!"_

A burning red rope shot out from the end of her wand, wrapping around the people at the door. Several screamed as their clothes and skin burned, but Bellatrix showed them no mercy as she flicked her wand and tightened the burning chain, cutting all those that were in its confines in half before disappearing.

For Miranda, it seemed like the slaughter took forever when in fact it only took a minute tops. By the time Bellatrix finally lowered her wand, the only three left still alive in the room were herself, Bellatrix and her boss. "Bellatrix. This was not part of the plan," Harper sighed, drawing out another cigarette. "You were supposed to kill them after they signed over their assets to Cerberus. Not before."

Bellatrix didn't seem to care as she flopped down in her seat with seemingly not a care in the world, "Whoops."

"Yes…whoops," Harper sighed, lighting up his cigarette. "But luckily, this is not the worst-case scenario. I've already arranged it so that no one will come looking for these individuals, so their deaths will never even be noticed. Also, while it will take some time I can still take control of their assets, now that they're no longer around to fight against me. But I will say that there is one good thing to come of this little display of yours my dear. You've certainly proved that you have the power to fight against Nox and her Guardians. And once we've tested the cybernetic enhancements we have planned out…she'll be no match for you. Just make sure that you do not deviate from the plan from here on out. My patience has a limit."

Bellatrix started laughing at that, a deep chuckle that sent chills down Miranda's spine, "Oh Jacky boy…I've never deviated from the 'plan'. This was just the first step. And now…this is the second."

Miranda didn't even see the witches hand move as a loud snap echoed through the room, and Jack Harper's head was suddenly facing backwards. His neck snapped clearly in half. The body twitched once, and then fell forward. Leaving Jack Harper's surprised, and dead, staring up at the ceiling.

Miranda couldn't help the slight tickle of fear that shuddered through her body as Bellatrix brought her wand to bear. A cloth appeared out of nothing and gently settled over her ex-boss's face. Next, the bottle of bourbon that'd been set on the table along with two glasses slid down the smooth polished wood, coming to a stop in front of the witch. Grabbing the decanter, Bellatrix poured one glass for herself, and then a second which she pushed towards Miranda. "That should help with the nerves Miranda."

Picking up the glass with an only a slightly shaking hand, Miranda drained the entirety of its contents in one go. "I– I never thought that you would be the one that the Empress would send."

Taking a sip of her own glass, Bellatrix leaned back in her seat, "I'm loyal the Empress, and to the Empress only. She saved me from a hell you cannot possibly imagine. I would gladly give my life or suffer any torment imaginable for her. Oh, and about your father, did you know that he was going to be here?"

Nodding, Miranda reached across the table and grabbed the bourbon to refill her glass. "Yes. Although besides being half of my genome…that is as far as the relationship between he and I goes. He was an absolute ass…and if I could've killed him years ago and gotten away with it I would've," Polishing off her second glass, she fought to keep herself under control as memories of the hell her father put her and her eight-year-old sister through. "Not that I question her…but the Empress will uphold her end of the deal, right?"

"Of course," Bellatrix nodded. "The Empress is a woman of her word. This…'Cerberus' will be under your control from here on out. And your sister's name will be at the top of the registry for the Guardian Order. Provided that she passes the tests of course."

"She will." Miranda nodded with conviction.

Her sister had started to show signs of magic abilities just after the start of the war. Her father had of course been gleeful. Not because his daughter had the ability to use magic of course. But because he now had a test subject. After all, that was all Miranda and her sister had even been to her father. Large lab rats. "Good." Miranda nodded, setting her glass down and rising to her feet. "Then I suppose that this is goodbye."

Draining her glass, Bellatrix rose to her feet, "Yes, it is. Now, I don't need to tell you the consequence of turning against the Empress now do I?"

"No," Miranda said, sparing a quick glance at all the bodies littering the conference room. "You don't."

"Good," Bellatrix clapped. "Then I will bid you farewell my dear."

"Yes," Miranda nodded, before turning and staring down at her dead father, a small smile forming on her lips. "And Bellatrix…thank you."

One of Bellatrix's delicate eyebrows rose as she laughed, "No need to thank Bellatrix my dear. Bellatrix died two years ago in the vaults below Gringotts in London. I am the Empress's Wraith. Nothing more, nothing less."

* * *

Standing in his office overlooking the Imperial City world of Coruscant, Emperor Sidious watched as life continued below him. While his face was completely passive, underneath the facade he was anything but. It had been two years since the great Dark Entity disappeared. He remembered the day all too well. While it could be said that the mysterious Force user that managed to stem the tide of the purge had managed to stabilize the Force. It was the disappearance of the Dark Side Entity that'd now caused the Force to shift back away from the dark and towards the light. Which was something that he could not afford.

 _'But even if I wanted to stem this trend,_ ' He thought angrily, turning his back on the scene below. _'I am incapable of interfering with this mysterious Force user…even though I have a rough idea of where she is hiding.'_

While the disappearance of the dark side entity had been a serious blow, there had been one benefit that had arisen from its disappearance. Whatever protection this mysterious Force user had, had wavered when the entity disappeared. He had, of course, immediately latched onto the disturbance to try and identify the Force user, but what he'd found was something else entirely. An entire world that was saturated in the Force, much like Korriban or even Tython. And on the surface of the planet he felt thousands, no, millions of Force users.

He'd been so astounded by what he'd found, that he'd forgotten to shore up his own defense, which the mysterious Force user took advantage of. And while he was busy marveling at the planet…the Force user somehow blinded him within the Force. He could still catch glimpses of the future, but his ability to sense across the galaxy was simply…gone. He could tell that he still had the ability to do so, but it was almost as if he'd simply forgotten how the technique was performed. It was incredibly infuriating and had led to the death of three of his personal guards when he'd discovered just what she'd done to him. But even with his blindness, he still knew approximately where this Force user was hiding. Deep in the uncharted section of the galaxy.

 _'A perfect place to hide,_ ' He sneered, throwing himself into his seat. _'Even if I wanted to go after her and her Jedi allies, I am unable to do so. My Empire is still in its infancy, and there are pockets of resistance across the galaxy that are against my rule. It's taking most of the military just to keep these insurgents down. And even if I did have the manpower to spare…I could not reach her. There are no hyperspace routes through the unknown regions. And mapping out a new route for the Imperial forces could take decades…if not centuries. No. Going after this Force user and this new world is impossible. We will have to wait. Be patient. Even with the forces she has, she does not have the power to combat the might of my Empire. She will have to gain allies. Allies here in the known galaxy. Which means she will have to send out emissaries. Emissaries that will have a route through the unknown regions. Yes…that is what we will do. I just need to have patience. Soon she will slip. And I will have the map to this new Force world. And then…then the Sith will control not only the known galaxy…but the unknown as well.'_

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Well everyone…there we go! The end to the second arch of In All Things Balance. And I must say…I never expected it to be this long. This definitely got away from me. Anyway, hope that you all enjoyed it! Now…onto the bad news. As all of you have not doubt noticed, but my chapters have come out at a ridiculously slow pace as of late. The reason for this is twofold. First, my muse has all but abandoned me as of late. I had my outline and knew where I wanted to go…but the words just wouldn't come out. Second, well my wife is pregnant with our first child so my attention is, hopefully, understandably diverted at the moment.**

 **So anyway, I do plan on continuing to write, but things will be coming out at a much slower pace from now on. I am going to start working on the third installment 'IATB: Unification War', but right now I'm going try and get a few chapters in before releasing it on FanFiction here.**

 **Again, hope that you all enjoyed it! Please leave a review and let me know what you all thought!**


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